The Four Mirrors
by MMMAJ
Summary: This is the story of Mewtwo's four grandsons, and the lives that they live in conflict with humans. This story will encompass everything from their teen years to the creation of their own societies. Pokemon:Zelda:Golden Sun:Fire Emblem Crossover.
1. Prologue: Looking Back

**The Four Mirrors**  
Sequel to 'Legacies'  
By MMM/AJ

**A/N**: Hello everyone! If this is the first time you've ever read my fanfiction, then you will probably not understand anything in here. This is the third and final installation of a trilogy of fanfictions centered around Mewtwo and his descendants, as well as the people who play important roles in their lives. If you're interested, please go and find the first entry in the list of stories I have written, which is named "Crossing of the Paths", and read it first.

For my returning readers, we will be starting this fanfiction from the point of view of our good friend Tanis for the first few chapters, and then progressing into the POVs of his sons. This installment of the series is planned to be the longest, I am aiming to reach a minimum of 400 pages with it. Happy reading, and I hope you enjoy!

**Prologue – Looking Back**

Through a grey, brooding sky came the ominous growling of a storm's first thunder. The toll of toil and worry etched patterns of monotone swirls into the clouds as they advanced on the peace loving sky, preparing to drop their payloads of rain. The world above stirred as similar clouds of brooding doubt swept across the world below. The first of the shimmering aquatic mines dropped from the sky, descending into the unknown. A mountain range and the forests that surround it leapt up towards the falling avenger, whose silhouette was invisible to human eyes. The droplet fell through a shimmering glow, and fell against the smooth glass pane of a window.

"Hmm, looks like rain." Tanis mumbled dully, looking up through the pane at the grey turmoil above. He waved his hand once to close all of the other windows in his house and returned to his heading. The textbook in his hand was brand new, and its cover glinted in the soft glow of the lamp.

The title on the cover had been stamped in white with a noble font: "Looking Back: A critical historical analysis of the cruelties of Ares' Regime". Shakara had brought it to Tanis last week to read, but he hadn't gotten around to picking it up until now. Told him that she had found it lying on the ground in the alleys near the school next door to the building where the Protectorate Summit had been held, and a combination of anxiety and a lack of time had mainly kept Tanis from reading it. The grey light streaming through the windows began to darken and fade as the clouds blotted out the light from the fast setting sun, and Tanis' scowl deepened as he read. He began to worry about Shakara as time passed, she was late getting home from that week's summit meeting, and the textbook's contents weren't exactly improving his mood either. His scowl grew angrier when he came across an even more flagrant passage in the book:

_It is unknown where the one named Tanis came from, but historians assume that he was another of Ares' creations, and therefore a kind of brother to Shakara. He was first seen in…_

Tanis slammed the book closed in disgust, angered that the humans would rather spread unfounded assumptions than admit to their own lack of knowledge. If they had known anything about his real father, then the book would be singing a different song entirely. He sat there fuming for a few minutes before regaining his temper and picking the book back up. Not soon after, the clouds completed their assault on the sunlight and the sky finally descended into the darkness of night. The thunder grew steadily closer, and soon white flashes became visible blinking in the distance. Dark rings began to form around Tanis' eyes as the deeper hours of the night rapidly snuck up on him during his absorption in the book. There was still no sign of Shakara.

Tanis heard a scream coming from one of his son's rooms and he teleported over there in an instant, leaving the book to fall helter-skelter into the chair. He reappeared in Venius' room, holding an energy sword prepared to fend off any intruder. He saw and felt no intruder in the room however, Venius had just leapt up out of his bed and was crying from a terrible nightmare. The energy blade faded away and Tanis walked over to pick his son up in his arms.

"Humans on the mountain." Venius whispered in terror. "Their bright green goggles are always watching!"

"It's alright now Venius, you're awake and they can't get you." Tanis said, patting his son on the back reassuringly.

"They're….they're still watching me dad…I can feel their eyes in the distance…" Venius said, falling into a frenzied hysteria.

"Don't you remember the illusion field I built around our house? None of the humans can see us, even with their fancy detection technology." Tanis said calmly. "They can never find us here, ever."

Despite his father's words, Venius kept on crying and babbling incoherently for several more minutes, and Tanis held him and rocked him in his arms gently, walking back and forth in the dark room. When the comforting familiarity of his father's arms finally lulled Venius back to sleep, Tanis delicately laid him back in his bed and covered him with his blankets. Venius grabbed his tail and held onto it like a security blanket, sleeping restlessly. Tanis walked out and closed the door as quietly as he could.

Tanis yawned and rubbed his eyes tiredly as he walked back out into the hall. It was beyond count how many times Venius had awoken from nightmares about humans now, and Tanis didn't know what to do about it. When he re-entered the den where he had been reading, he saw Shakara there already waiting for him. She was sitting there in his chair, flipping idly through the pages of the textbook.

"I heard Venius crying when I came in, so I decided to stay out here and let you handle it." Shakara said, taking off her glasses. "Another human dream again?"

Tanis nodded gravely and sat in the chair next to her. "How did the summit go?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.

Shakara sighed and flipped the pages of the textbook again, the pupils of her eyes dilating a tad. "You remember how they banned me from using my powers during meetings last month, forcing me to have to wear these glasses every time I come in? It's not a big deal really, a little blurry vision isn't hard to deal with. Well, they tried to pass a law banning us from using our powers outside of designated areas this time. Thankfully there were still enough sympathizers on the council to keep this from passing, but I'm worried Tanis, very worried. As far as I can tell, human attitudes are on a steady shift against us."

"It's been like this ever since they found those mass graves four years ago, we're never going to live free from Ares' shadow and it's something we're going to have to deal with." Tanis said.

"It's worse than that too, Tanis. A matter came up for the first time in the council today, my ships in orbit caught photos of a single battlecruiser class warship under construction at a human military base in Central Europe. I brought these photos in and proposed a series of economic sanctions against the nation responsible, since non-proliferation laws have forbidden the creation of military spacecraft above cruiser class. The human leaders of the council refused to pass these sanctions however, stating that it was not in their interest to start a conflict. It's like they're turning a blind eye!"

Tanis tilted his head to the side and pondered for a moment. "Shakara, I think you might be overreacting. You know, you still control almost every single warship from your father's old regime. It's not like the humans would try to challenge you, especially since your Protectorate System has been responsible for creating a stable environment of economic growth and reconstruction for years now! There is no sane reason for trying to rebel against you, since you've been helping people ever since you got this power. I'm sure that these people just want to add a little to their own personal security, and if you let them be for awhile then they will probably stop."

Shakara sighed. "You're right, you're right. It would be stupid of them to try and start a conflict with me. But I still get a bad feeling about this. Why would they need personal security when they know that I would personally intervene to stop any war? I can't read their mind to find out anymore, now that the summit meeting locations all have psionic blockers in place. The worst part of it is, if I threaten this nation with military force to halt the construction of their ship, it could be labeled as an abuse of power by the other human leaders. With the trend of sympathies moving as they are right now, it would damage my image irreparably. And since the only other direct option is sanctions, which have already been eliminated, then there's no visible solution to this problem other than to just let them have their ship."

"It's not worth the damage to you to cause such a fuss over one ship anyway Shakara. As long as you keep objecting to the construction of this ship on the strongest possible terms, then the problem will hopefully go away." Tanis said. "It sounds like wishful thinking, but as I see it, it's our best possible choice of action."

"You were always good at wishful thinking." Shakara said, turning and smiling at him. "This is nothing compared to the time when we needed to fly through the Blue River back when it was called the Black River, to reach my father's base while his ships were chasing us." Shakara said,

"Exactly! If we could live through a situation like that, then by the gods we can live through this!" Tanis said cheerfully. "Now give me my chair back!"

Shakara smiled and set the textbook down before standing. "You know Tanis, you never cease to amaze me. One moment you're helping me through my usual spats with the human governments, and then the next you're quibbling with me over which chair you want to sit in. How do you do it?"

"Three things my dear: Green tea, a long read, and silence. Lots and lots of silence." Tanis said, smiling as he got his favorite chair back.

A staccato crash filled the air and bright white light blinked in the windows as lightning struck amazingly close to their house. A few moments later, the sound of Venius crying again echoed down the halls.

"Too bad that that particular resource always seems in short supply around here eh?" Shakara said.

Tanis shrugged and smiled and the futility before jumping up out of his chair and jogging back down the hall toward his son's room.

"Looks like it's going to be a long night." Shakara said, and picked up the textbook to read through it some more.

**A/N**: It's kind of sad that I have to say this again, but I will.

PLEASE REMEMBER, NO FLAMES!

I wrote this reminder back at the beginning of Crossing of the Paths, and thankfully I didn't have to repeat it again. Unfortunately however, circumstances have dictated that I must re-post this reminder for you to see here today, because apparently someone finally forgot it.

So, kindly remember that all public flames here will either be totally ignored or copied and posted humiliatingly on my personal website. If you have a problem with my fanfiction and wish to voice it, please do so in a constructive manner, or else in a PRIVATE E-MAIL if you're really upset. I have no problem receiving constructive critiques on my writing, but if you feel the need to stoke an open flame, then you will lose all of my respect as a friend and person.

Thanks for reading everyone, I do appreciate your reviews! Just remember to keep your flames to emails please!


	2. Part I: Brotherhood : Chunk 1

**The Four Mirrors**  
Sequel to 'Legacies'  
By MMM/AJ

**A/N**: I know that I said that the first few chapters were going to be from Tanis' point of view, but I've been mulling, writing, deleting, and re-writing a lot lately in an attempt to get the POV system worked out in a way that pleases me. In the end I decided that I wanted to skip ahead to the teenage years of Tanis' sons and go directly to their POV's in an alternating POV system not unlike the one in Legacies. I will not neglect giving them their backstories, but I want to introduce these backstories in a more subtle way.

ALSO: Note that the crossover parts of this fanfic will be coming in much later on. The entire first Book will just center on Tanis' family, and then we'll move on to the other worlds in the next Book.

AND ANOTHER THING: While I'm still doing this obscenely long author's note, I'll add this last bit on for good measure:

_This third and final installation of the series is dedicated to Katie. My biggest fan, my best supporter/helper, and my closest friend._

**Part I – Brotherhood**

**Chapter 1 – V1**

An 18 year old Venius lounged lazily in a reclining chair in his room, grinding his mind against the algebra homework that his father had given him. His room was utterly dark except the single lamp sitting on his desk, and his computer stylus danced furiously across the console by his mind's command. His tail twitched back and forth behind him and he ground his teeth as he pondered the word problem before him. The stars twinkled beautifully outside his spotless window, the entire night was still except for his endless calculating, everyone else in the house had already gone to bed. The holographic clock to his right blinked 2:34 AM, and a fresh mug of coffee next to the clock was releasing a cloud of steam. Venius picked it up and took large mouthfuls at regular intervals, finishing it before it could cool off. The night marched drearily on in this fashion, and Venius refused to let himself stop until he was sure he would be ready for his exam tomorrow morning. He knew how merciless his father's exams could be, and math was still giving him a major headache. As much as he hated staying up to study, he hated disappointing his father even more, and this sentiment, along with plenty of caffeine, was what kept him going long into the wee hours of the morning.

By the time the clock reached 5 AM, Venius sighed and let his stylus drop and be still. He still felt insecure about his proficiency with the subject, but he had finished five cups of coffee and the sleepiness had already crawled back into his eyes. He decided that he needed the sleep anyway, and floated out of his chair and over into bed. The lamp on his desk flicked off and the blankets peeled themselves back to accommodate him. The bed was nearly ice cold when he laid down, and a couple of shivers ran up his spine as the blankets covered him. Frightening thoughts began to course through his mind as he laid there trying to clear his mind to get to sleep, a sense of dread about the exam grew, and he felt a pit of fear weighing down in his stomach. He turned over and looked out his window at the stars to try and distract himself, but that same ominous feeling still gripped him. Seeing the stars only made him worry about the exams even more. Father had promised to give him his first ride in one of Shakara's ships up into space if he got a good grade, and now it felt as if he'd have to wait another six months to get that chance. Dark brooding feelings swamped him, and parades of worrisome thoughts tormented him as he tried desperately to get to sleep. It took another half hour before the heaviness in his eyelids finally overcame this worry in his mind, and the sleep he drifted into was fragile and fleeting at first.

Once Venius passed into a deeper sleep, his subconscious decided to take a bit of a jaunt back into the past. Against his will, Venius' dreams took him several years into the past, back to when he was only four years old, back before he had even met anyone outside of his own family. The faces of his young brothers flickered past him, and a bright blue summer sky prevailed over all. He saw images of flight and fancy that lacked coherence or any real substance, and for a short while the dreams were comforting. Soon after, the blue summer sky fell away into darkness, as if the sun had somehow disappeared, and a red glow filled his vision. Four humans appeared in the distance, riding bicycles directly toward him. They slowed as they approached, their faces first shocked, and then angry. They stopped before him, dismounted, and surrounded him in a circle. He tried to use his power to fly away, but somehow was unable. They looked down at his short, childish form before releasing a volley of brutal kicks.

The dream played havoc with Venius' memories however, twisting them into new terrifying variants. One of the humans produced a handgun and leveled it at him, but before he could fire, one of Venius' brothers, Cygnus, came running towards them. The human with the gun turned and aimed it at him as he approached, and Venius yelled desperately for them to stop. In a flash of crimson, the dream altered drastically again. No longer were the humans jeans-wearing teenagers like before, but armored soldiers wearing visored helmets and carrying large laser rifles. Cygnus was suddenly grown to adult stature, wielding two large energy swords and flying toward the humans. Around him were the two other brothers, Opulous and Nolus, as well as a large groups of others of his species that were unrecognizable. Green beams shot from the humans' visors, acting as targeting devices, and locked onto Venius' brothers, and then the rifles opened fire. Venius was still paralyzed on the ground, unable to move, and could only watch as the blinding beams penetrated his brothers and sent them to the ground in charred heaps. In the background, blinding flashes filled the sky as distant explosions cratered the Earth.

When the human soldiers were done slaughtering Venius' brethren, they turned back around and looked down at him again. Their green targeting lasers all centered on his face, and they leveled their rifles at him to do their grisly work. Before they could fire, a blinding flash filled Venius' vision, and he slammed his eyes closed. When the light cleared and he opened his eyes, a towering mushroom cloud filled the sky above him, and there was nothing left of the humans but skeletons, which were still standing around him. The pile of corpses that had used to be his brothers and fellows had been burnt to ashes, and naught was left of his home but a burning wasteland. One of the human skeletons reached a bony hand down toward him, and he curled his still child-sized body into a ball and screamed. The skeleton grabbed his shoulder and called his name, and in an instant the dream ended and Venius bolted upright in his bed.

Venius saw his brother Nolus in front of him, he had shaken him awake. He also saw the wreckage of his desk strewn all across the floor next to his bed, the wood had been splintered into shards and the computer console that had been inlaid was lying flickering on the carpet, on the verge of starting a fire. The little glass lens in the holographic clock had shattered, as had the glass in his windows.

"Great. Just fabulous." Venius muttered angrily.

"Nightmares again?" Nolus asked.

"Yes. I thought I was through with them, but apparently my subconscious isn't done with me." Venius replied, standing out of bed.

"Here, I'll help you clean up." Nolus said.

Nolus raised his paw and psychically lifted all the debris in the air. He sorted the objects and returned them to their proper places, repairing the broken glass as he went. The two of them co-operated to return Venius' room back to the way it was, and when they finished, Nolus bade him a good night and left to go back to bed in his own room. Venius sighed and was about to climb back into his own bed when is father walked in.

"The bad dreams are coming back eh?" Tanis asked.

"yeah dad. I don't know what's causing them, but it looks like I'll need to use my powers to stay awake again during the test tomorrow." Venius replied.

"What about that caffeinated drink you started using this week? You said you'd never need anything else to stay awake ever again." Tanis said.

"It works decently well when I don't drink it too often, but if I overuse it, it loses its effectiveness. I'll have to drink 5 cups tomorrow morning, or concentrate it, to keep me awake." Venius said.

Tanis sighed, and there was a long pause. Venius then managed to work up the courage to ask the question that had been bothering him for his whole childhood,

"Father, do you think my dreams could be prophetic?"

Tanis didn't look surprised at the question. He stared thoughtfully for a moment and tilted his head to the side slightly before speaking, "I don't know, do you think they could be?"

"Well I don't know either, why do you think I asked?" Venius growled.

"Easy, I just wanted you to think it over. Have any of these nightmares ever come to pass before?" Tanis asked,

"As far as I know, no. I've dreamed a lot of things in the past, and they weren't all necessarily centered around me or the rest of the family. Venius replied.

"Hmmmm…Has anything ever given you reason to believe that these dreams might be prophetic?" Tanis asked.

"Not really. I've just always worried about it, the prospect of it hovers over me like a great weight about to come crashing down." Venius said.

There was a slight pause before Venius spoke again, "I just thought you might be able to help me feel better about it."

Tanis sighed and then replied, "If it makes you feel any better, I've never had any of my nightmares ever come to pass, and as far as I know, neither have any of your brothers or cousins."

"What about Grandfather?" Venius asked.

"All I know about my father I saw from the recordings he left me, and the very few times we talked when I was a very small child. I cannot speak for him in this matter. I know that's not very assuring, but I wanted to be honest with you Venius." Tanis said.

Venius smiled. "Thanks dad, that did help."

"All in a night's work, son! Now you need to go back to bed! It's going to be a very painful morning tomorrow for all of us, especially you if you don't get some more sleep!" Tanis said, rising to leave the room.

"Good night father!" Venius called after him.

Feeling much more at ease than he had before, Venius laid himself back in bed and managed to get back to sleep much quicker than before. His father's words helped ward off any further nightmares for the rest of the night, and he managed to sleep peacefully during the last remaining hours before dawn.

**Chapter II – CI**

A grating, high-pitched beeping tore through Cygnus' idle dreaming and forcefully dragged him back into the conscious world. In a moment of intemperate frustration, he psychically grabbed his antique LCD alarm clock and threw it out the window, and then groggily sat up in bed. Orange light from the sunrise gushed through his window and assaulted his eyes, which he rubbed and blinked repeatedly. The sounds of wind rustling the leaves of the trees and birdsongs were repulsive to his ears, and the normally irresistible aroma of breakfast on the air seemed to burn his nostrils. He wanted nothing more than to lie back down and escape his senses into the dream world for a little bit longer, but he knew the importance of today's exam and pulled himself grindingly into action.

Normally Cygnus wasn't this sluggish in the mornings. In fact, he was the morning person of the family, always getting up before everyone else to take jogs in the forest surrounding the house. This day was different though, today was the day that he and his brothers and cousins had an early morning proficiency exam, and the prospect of it drove his normal drive and energy levels down into the red zone. His father had home-schooled all of them for as long as he could remember, but never had he given them an exam so early in the morning. Cygnus trudged down the stairs, woefully wondering if he could even pass the exam in the state that he was in.

Downstairs almost everyone had gathered around the table for breakfast, and some of them had started eating already. Cygnus guessed that Melicia had volunteered to cook breakfast again by her absence from the table and the merry racket coming from the kitchen. He took his seat between his brothers Venius and Nolus, looking down at the plate of food that was sitting there waiting for him. The brightly colored assortment of fruits from his father's hydroponic garden did nothing for him today, and the bowl of whole-wheat cereal didn't look too appealing either.

"Did you have a rough night last night as well?" Venius asked him.

Cygnus saw the purple rings around his brother's eyes and winced. "No, not really, I'm just not at 100 today. What about you, you look like you haven't slept in weeks!"

"Well you know me, I'm more of a last-minute crammer." Venius said with a woeful smile.

"He was having nightmares again last night too!" Nolus added around a mouthful of fruit.

"No way!" Cygnus exclaimed in disbelief. "How long has it been since your last one, seven years at least?"

Venius sighed heavily. "At the very least. But I don't really want to talk about it."

"Here's your coffee, Venius." Melicia said, emerging from the kitchen. She handed him a steaming mug. "I think it's so admirable that you're trying not to use your powers anymore than you have to these days!"

Cygnus blinked. "Coffee? Isn't that what humans drink when they get tired?"

"Yes, it contains a stimulant called caffeine, and I'm trying it as an alternative to using my powers to stay awake." Venius said. "Melicia grew the beans in father's garden and brewed it for me."

"It also tastes absolutely awful!" Tanis added from across the table.

"Hmm, well I could use a pick-me-up, no matter the taste. Could you bring me a cup Melicia?" Cygnus asked.

"It would be my pleasure!" Melicia said cheerfully, and strode back off into the kitchen.

Cygnus hardly touched his food until Melicia returned with the coffee. He balked at drinking it at first when he saw how suspiciously it was colored, but then took a decent sized swig.

"Bleh! You're right about the taste father, it's ghastly!" Cygnus exclaimed.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad is it?" Melicia asked indignantly.

"Maybe you should add some more sugar next time?" Venius offered, taking a sip of his own.

Cygnus scowled before taking another drink. "As long as it'll help to keep me awake, I'll drink it." Cygnus said. "The things I'll do to score well on an exam."

"You'll get used to it after awhile. You might even come to like it, like me!" Venius said, now visibly refreshed.

Soon Cygnus felt more awake and alive than he had in weeks. He devoured his breakfast in record time and then dashed outside to do jumping jacks until the rest of the family finished eating. He had already worked up a healthy sweat by the time he saw everyone emerging from the house to walk over to the building where the exam was being held. He raced after them and got in line as they all crossed the grounds.

The seven of them entered the small, bunker-like building with a hushed whisper of anticipation. Normally this building was one of Tanis' research labs, so there were several large computer projectors attached to the ceiling and plenty of equipment strewn everywhere. Wiring spidered across the walls and a metallic smell hung in the air. Cygnus wondered how his father could stay cooped up in a dungeon like this for so many hours at a time. They each pulled up a chair and the computers on the ceiling projected holographic terminals in their laps like they were sitting at desks. It wasn't long before Tanis and Shakara walked in, Tanis carrying a decent sized stack of papers with him.

"Now I know this is highly irregular, and that you're all used to computerized exams, but today I want us all to try something different. I have printed some paper exams, and I want you to complete them with these wooden pencils." He said.

With a wave of his hand, Tanis psychically distributed the exam papers and one pencil to everyone. Their holographic consoles faded out and were replaced with solid, opaque planes of energy that would be used as writing surfaces. Cygnus looked down at his exam and frowned. The format change didn't really bother him that much, it was just another way of delivering a test that would prove that he wasn't as smart as his brothers. But some of the others had objections, and they voiced them right away.

"This is totally primitive!" Opulous said, his tone almost huffy. "We're not humans, father!"

"And it's totally wasteful!" Nolus added, "I don't want someone cutting down trees just so my knowledge can be tested!"

"Easy, easy!" Tanis said sternly. "I never said this change was going to be permanent! I just wanted to broaden all your horizons a little but by letting you see through another perspective! I wanted to show you what it was like for humans of the same age as you in school 100 years ago!"

"Is it really necessary?" Venius whined.

"Just suck it up and deal with it, trying different things is good for you!" Tanis replied.

That managed to stop the outward protesting, but Cygnus could still feel the resentment lingering in the air. Venius in particular seemed the most upset over it, a burning scowl marred his face and the negative emotions he emitted were like a stench on the air to Cygnus' psychic senses. He tried his best to block them out and concentrate on the problems before him, and as soon as Tanis announced that the timer had been activated, he grabbed the pencil in his paw and awkwardly began writing.

The first segment of the exam was a cumulative algebra review, and Cygnus struggled with it like a man wrestling with an alligator. His handwriting was extremely poor, he was used to typing his answers into a console or even using a drag-free stylus on the screen. It made him worry if is father could even read his answers at all. Still he carried on though, an hour passing while he trudged on through the grueling mental toil.

All three of Shakara's daughters, as well as Opulous, finished the entire exam before Cygnus or the others had even completed the first segment. He sighed heavily as they walked past him to hand in their papers, and another wave of negative emotion radiated from Venius, making him clench his fingers tightly around his pencil. When he turned the page to the next segment, he sighed in relief to see that it covered biological concepts. He scribbled on with a new resolve, moving much faster than before.

Cygnus managed to catch up to his two other brothers by the time he finished the Biology segment, and the three of them turned to the final segment together in unison. They all moaned in disappointment in unison as well when they saw that it was a chemistry exam. When Cygnus got into the work however, he found it to be much easier than expected. Still, he didn't perform with flying colors, and during the entire time he was constantly distracted by the waves of negativity that Venius was spewing. It made Cygnus wish that he could temporarily turn off his psychic sensitivity to give him a chance to concentrate better.

After another half hour of grinding, he and Nolus finished their exams. Venius stayed behind, still agonizing over the chemistry as he and Nolus handed in their papers and left. Tanis and Shakara stayed behind to monitor Venius, so it was just Cygnus and Nolus walking across the grounds back towards the house.

"How do you think you did overall?" Nolus asked.

"Eh." Cygnus replied. "The bio was mostly easy and the chemistry wasn't that bad, but the algebra totally annihilated me."

"Well I totally aced the bio section!" Nolus bragged.

"Of course you did, you tree-hugger!" Cygnus teased. "There isn't a single species of plant or Pokemon that you don't know anything about!"

"Hey, you could do just as well if you studied more!" Nolus said.

"Well unlike the rest of you guys, I enjoy having a little bit of free time now and then!"

When they arrived at the house they saw that Melicia had situated herself in the hammock on the front porch and was drawing in her oversized sketchbook at a furious pace. She had a drink sitting on the end-table to her left, and her colored pencil set on the porch railing to her right.

"Hey Mel, are you drawing Grandfather again?" Nolus asked as they stepped up onto the spacious porch.

"Am I that predictable?" Melicia asked in a pseudo-whiny voice.

"You have several sketchbooks full of testaments to it!" Nolus replied, smiling at her wryly.

Cygnus peeked over Melicia's shoulder to get a look at her drawing. It showed Mewtwo sitting on a large boulder on a moonlit mountainside, staring down at a glowing city below him in the distance.

"It really looks like a real human city!" Cygnus marveled. "You haven't been sneaking out at night to visit human cities have you?" Cygnus teased, prodding her with his elbow.

"Oh shut up!" Melicia said and batted him away playfully.

"I'm going to go and meditate for awhile now, do either of you want to come with me?" Nolus asked.

"No, thank you. I want to finish this drawing and I still have a long way to go." Melicia said.

"I think I'm going to go on a jog too, sorry Nolus." Cygnus said.

"That's alright, I can get Opulous to go with me. Have a good walk Cygnus, and good luck with your drawing Melicia!" Nolus said, then opened the door and disappeared into the house.

"I'll be back in about an hour, see you later Melicia." Cygnus said.

Melicia paused from her sketching to wave to Cygnus as he jogged off toward the woods, and Cygnus returned the gesture before pushing into the foliage.

The forest was alive with sounds that morning, and Cygnus took it in eagerly as he strode through the trees. His favorite path was a little dirt trail that was only barely visible through the undergrowth, much like the trail between the house and than nearby human hiking pathway. Cygnus jogged along at a brisk pace, only stopping when a wild Pokemon got in his way. By the time he made it all the way down to the end of the path he was still feeling energetic from the coffee, so he decided to jog back too instead of just teleporting home. The return trip was just a brief it seemed, and when he was standing back on the green grass of the grounds, he debated on whether to make another lap. He had only been jogging for about 45 minutes, and he still felt the drive to keep going, but by now he was aching for a new place to explore. He wondered if he could walk down the trail that lead to the human bike path. His father had always advised him to avoid most humans whenever possible, so he knew he couldn't walk on the bike path itself. Perhaps he could just go down the trail to this path, then turn back? It seemed the only interesting thing left to do besides hiking up the mountains, so he decided he would do it. Besides, what were the odds he would run into a human all the way out here, and at this early in the morning? He pushed his way back through the brush and walked on.

This trail was much more overgrown than he had remembered it to be. More than once a thorn snagged his skin and cut him open, and he had to stop and use his recover ability to stop the bleeding and close the wound. He couldn't even make it up to even a fast-walk pace, the density of the greenery slowed him to a crawl. He traveled like this for 20 minutes before emerging into a clearer portion of trail. He was relieved to be free f all the scratching, irritating branches, and jumped back into his near-running pace and rounded the corner. Right as he turned that corner, he ran squarely into a human teenaged girl who was been coming around the corner toward him. They both toppled to the ground at once and Cygnus bit the dirt.

Cygnus jumped to his feet and prepared to defend himself against whatever the human was about to do, but then he saw that this particular human was one he knew, it was the black haired girl named Asha whom he had known since he was a child! He stuttered in surprise for a moment before rushing to help her up.

"My goodness! I wasn't aware that you were coming to visit today Asha!" Cygnus exclaimed!

"I was hoping it could be a surprise." Asha said, wiping the dirt off of her clothes.

Asha was a teenager of light build now, standing almost 6 feet tall with black hair much like her mother's that flowed down to her waist. She had Deep brown eyes and a nose that was smaller than her mother's. She was wearing a blue tank top with the words "I like Cheese" printed on it, and the same pair of patched, dirty, ragged jeans that her mother had worn. There was only one Pokéball attached to her belt, signifying that she was far more likely to be a breeder than a trainer. It had been nearly three years since her last visit, and the fact that she was growing into adult size was quite a shock to Cygnus. He wasn't quite used to seeing her so tall, even though she was still almost a head shorter than him.

"It's been far too long!" Cygnus exclaimed. "Look how much taller you've gotten!"

"You haven't exactly gotten shorter since I last saw you!" Asha said. "Come on, let's walk to the house together."

They walked side-by-side together until they reached the thicker foliage, and then they walked in a single file, still talking all the way.

"

"What has your mother been up to?" Cygnus asked

"Oh, she's still at her job teaching at the Pokemon Institute, but she's been expanding the number of classes she's been teaching. Now she teaches a class on Ares and his regime on top of her usual classes on Pokemon care and training. I've been taking a few classes under her recently too, it's really cool."

"Is your brother still a trainer?" Cygnus asked.

"Oh yes, and he's as hot-headed as ever, as most trainers are. He's always calling us on the cid-phone to show us what cool new Pokemon he's just caught." Asha added. "How about your father? What has he been up to?"

"Oh the usual." Cygnus said. "Still stuffing us full of scientific knowledge every moment of every day. In a few more years I'll be a walking dictionary of Pokemon Biology just like him. He's been working in his labs all the time again too, sometimes spending five or six hours in there straight. I overheard him telling Shakara that he was only a few months away from a major genetic breakthrough."

When they reached the end of the trail where the trees gave way to the grassy grounds, nearly everyone was there waiting for them. Venius and Shakara weren't there, but Tanis, Nolus, Opulous, Melicia, Satoria, and Tamista had all gathered. Cygnus knew they had probably been tipped off by the perimeter proximity alert that always flashed whenever a human approached their home, but he still winced slightly when they all broke out into enthusiastic greetings and gathered for hugs when they emerged from the trees.

"Well, I guess that finishes off my attempt at surprising you guys!" Asha said, smiling as Nolus gripped her in a tight hug.

"Where have you been sis? Decide to abandon us for three years and think you can sneak up on us?" Nolus said.

Nolus had always affectionately referred to Asha as his sister; they had been close friends during their childhoods and were still just as close when she had stopped visiting 3 years ago.

"I was just telling Cygnus about that, I've been attending classes at the Pokemon Institute. Things have been extremely busy there, I've been taking full course loads year-round, including during summer, and it's kept me tied up, even during holidays!" Asha said.

"Well at least you haven't been missing your visits for a stupid reason! Come on, let's go to the house!" Nolus insisted.

Nolus continued to monopolize Ashley on the walk to the house, and when the others realized they probably weren't going to get a single word in edgewise, they bade her a good visit and went back to what they had been doing before. Cygnus stayed with Asha and Nolus however, he wanted to at least hear what news Asha had brought with her, even if he never got a chance to say anything about it over Nolus' constant talking. The three of them sat at the table in the kitchen for several hours, discussing the goings on in each of their separate lives.

"Mom and I went to put fresh flowers on Grandpa's grave last week." Asha said. "It was the first time I had visited the site for a year, and the headstone had vines growing on it. I asked mom if we should take them down, but she said that he would have wanted is place of rest to be green and beautiful, even if the foliage covered the words. It was a sad and humbling experience. He lived for over 150 years you know, and still to this day we keep the secret of Purity lake safe for him"

"You know, I think I may have figured out why our grandfather created that spring, but never used it." Nolus said.

"What? Do tell!" Cygnus broke in.

"I think he knew that part of the value of life was its impermanence, and that living for hundreds of years devalues it and robs you of your motivation or reason to do anything." Nolus said thoughtfully.

"But then why create the spring in the first place?" Asha asked.

"Perhaps…as a gift to those who would otherwise die before their time? It would allow those, like cancer patients to regain their lives and live how they were originally intended to. But, at the same time, he didn't want humans abusing its power, so he hid it in Purity Canyon where hardly even the most hardy hikers or explorers go." Nolus said.

Cygnus nodded. "That makes perfect sense! We may never know his true intentions, but this at least will let me look back on him in a more complete light." Cygnus said.

"Perhaps my own grandfather realized this, and that was his reason to stop using the spring." Asha said.

"Yeah, you're right! It all seems to click now!" Nolus said. "I need to tell the others after you leave."

"You know, before I always wondered why he didn't use the spring before, if not just to see me reach adulthood before he died. But this, this makes sense. It adds a lot of closure to something that always bothered me. Thank you Nolus." Asha said.

"It was a great healing for both of us." Nolus said, taking Asha's hand. "I'm glad we could finally get that weight off of us."

The back door swung open, and all three of their heads swung around to see that Tanis had just walked in, and he was carrying a stack of disheveled papers. "I've got your exams graded!" he said with a smile on his face.

Cygnus was glad to see his father was smiling about the grades, but he still dreaded seeing the score on his algebra section. Tanis handed Nolus his exam first, and Cygnus closed his eyes and held his breath when Tanis handed him his.

"Alright, 94 percent!" Nolus cheered.

Cygnus barely peeked through his eyelids and saw several red checkmarks on his paper, causing him to clench them closed again. Then he worked up the gumption and opened them again. He sighed in relief when he saw an acceptable 72 percent totaled on the top of his exam.

"You're improving, Cygnus. You may still need a lot of work on Algebra, but you're improving!" Tanis said, patting him on the back.

"Thanks Dad, I'll keep at it." Cygnus said.

Tanis walked off to find the others and finish handing out the grades, and Nolus flipped through the pages of his like a ravenous animal to find the biology section. A frown crossed his face when he found it.

"Aww man, I missed out on a perfect biology score by 3 points!" Nolus said in a frustrated tone. "I was so sure I had aced it!"

Cygnus cringed when he saw all the errors he had made in the algebra section, he had barely passed it by the skin of his teeth. The better scores in his bio section and average scores in chemistry had been what balanced him out and kept his total from being abysmal. He set the exam down on the table and sighed again, feeling extremely relieved.

"So I guess this means we get to go on that space trip together huh brother?" Nolus said, grinning.

"Space trip?" Asha asked, now switching her curious stare between the two of them.

"Yes, Shakara promised to take us up into space and through the Blue River if we scored a 70 percent or better! We're going tomorrow!" Nolus said.

"Cool! I've never been in space before, you need to tell me what it's like when I visit again next week!" Asha said excitedly.

"I can do one better than that, why don't you stay the night tonight and fly with us tomorrow?" Nolus asked.

Asha's eyes lit up for a moment, and then a sad look played across her face. "I can't, I've gotta make the hike back home tonight or else I won't be back for class tomorrow morning. I don't know what Mom would think if I missed one of her lectures."

"Hmm, well what time does your class start and end tomorrow?" Nolus asked.

"Nine to ten thirty AM." Asha said.

"We aren't planning on going on the trip until five PM, so why not have one of us teleport you home for class, and then teleport you back when you're done?" Nolus asked.

"Nolus, you're forgetting we're not allowed to use our teleport power outside the grounds unless its an emergency!" Cygnus said.

"Then how about we make a side trip in the ship? We can pick you up before exiting the atmosphere." Nolus suggested.

"You'll have to do a lot of begging to Shakara to get her to agree to it." Cygnus said.

"Yeah but it's worth a try, isn't it?" Nolus asked.

"I guess so, but I don't want to be the one doing the begging." Cygnus replied.

"Alright, I'll wait for you guys at the University Square at five. If you don't show up for half an hour, I'll assume the plan got scuttled." Asha said.

Asha looked down at her watch and frowned. "Jeez, talking to you guys is like going into a time tunnel! I look away from my watch for a second and it's almost sunset! I should probably get going if I want to reach the campsite in any timely manner."

"Aw, are you sure you can't take just half an hour more?" Nolus whined. "We can fly you over there!"

"No, that's alright. I like walking, it lets me enjoy the scenery of the forest. And besides, you guys probably have more studying to do! I'd hate to be responsible for holding up your algebra practice, Cygnus!" Asha said, winking at him.

"Oh no, that would be such a disaster." Cygnus joked.

The two of them walked her to the door and bade her farewell.

"If everything goes according to plan, we'll see you tomorrow at five!" Nolus said. "Tell your mom and dad hi for us!"

"Sure thing! Good luck groveling!" Asha called as she walked off back towards the woods.

A/N: And so ends a very domestic 14 page chunk. There's more on the way too, next chunk we'll be seeing from Nolus and Opulous' eyes, and perhaps we'll get our first small bit of crossover too. Keep your eyes open too, I plan on putting a surprise plot twist in sometime during the next 2 or 3 chunks, and it'll hit you out of the blue! Until then, thanks for reading!


	3. Part I: Brotherhood : Chunk 2

**The Four Mirrors**  
Sequel to 'Legacies'  
By MMM/AJ

_This third and final installation of the series is dedicated to Katie. My biggest fan, my best supporter/helper, and my closest friend._

**A/N: **Whew! Here's a nice beefy 21 pager for y'alls to enjoy! We've got 10 pages from Opulous' POV and 11 pages from Nolus, as well as a significant Author's Note at the end. Also, my good friend ZephyrAnalea helped me with some of the proofreading on this one. Thanks Zeph! Grab some coffee and a big pile of spare time for this one!

**Chapter III – OI**

Opulous slowly opened his eyes and took a deep breath of the bracing morning air. The breeze the blew through the forest around him had a bit of a bite of chill in it, and it nipped at his skin slightly as he slowly awoke from his meditation. The gentle sigh of this breeze in the leaves filled his ears, and he turned to look at his brother Nolus, who was sitting next to him. Nolus had just emerged from meditation as well, and he smiled at Opulous warmly.

"That was extremely relaxing, brother." Opulous said. "We should meditate more often."

"Thanks Op, it's good for just about anything that ails you." Nolus replied. "I try to do it 3 times a week; it helps me keep in touch with the energy of the forest."

They stood up and began walking down the path back to their house, but were interrupted halfway there by the sound of someone pushing through the foliage. Cygnus emerged, scratched up from the thorns, with a brilliant look of excitement painted on his face.

"Your little hideout is extremely hard to get to!" Cygnus exclaimed. "Come on, the shuttle's here to take us up into space!"

"Already?" Opulous asked, feeling mildly surprised. This was the first time he had tried meditation with Nolus, and he hadn't expected it to pass the time so incredibly quickly.

"Yes, it's been waiting for 20 minutes, and we've been trying to find you!" Cygnus said.

The three of them raced through the woods together, knowing that the others were probably becoming impatient, and when they emerged, Opulous looked up in wonder at the size of the ship that had landed on the grounds. Opulous had seen some of Shakara's gunships before, but this shuttle was nearly triple the size of any of them. Its hull was painted a uniform dull metallic grey, and the symbol of Shakara's Protectorate was emblazoned on the side of the craft near the nose. It towered nearly 25 feet tall and 30 feet wide, with the engines on the read humming in idle mode and glowing blue. Tanis was standing in front of the door reading a thick white text book, and he looked up and grinned when they reached him.

"It's about time!" He said playfully. "Been out playing tag with the wild Sentrets?"

"Oh come on dad, let's just go." Nolus said, rolling his eyes.

They all stepped up inside the shuttle, turned a corner, and entered a fairly cushy room filled with padded chairs. Shakara was standing in the front next to the pilot's chair, and everyone else had already buckled themselves into the passenger seats. Opulous was surprised to see that even Venius was present, despite the poor performance on his exam. He decided not to ask Venius about it however, since it was best to just let him enjoy the trip without worrying about the exam. Tanis walked up to the front to stand next to Shakara while the rest of them found their seats and buckled in as well.

"Alright, Now that we're all here, there are a few things I must tell you before we take off." Shakara said. "First of all, I should warn you that riding in the Blue River is a lot more….disconcerting than you might expect. I could try explaining how it feels to you in words, but I fear that I would do it little justice. What I will tell you is that you had better have buckled yourselves in tightly, and that I hope you haven't eaten recently."

"Ummm, what if we did just eat?" Tamista asked suddenly.

"Then I trust you to control your own gut." Shakara said frankly.

"Why should this be a problem?" Nolus interjected. "Your shuttles do have inertial compensators installed, don't they?"

"Of course, but you must remember that back when I was your age, my father had just barely developed the technology for these compensators to allow his ships to even come through the river undamaged. Even with the technology we've developed since then, the ride is never going to be smooth. That's why the seats you're sitting in are so thickly cushioned."

"And finally, we're going to dock and exchange some supplies with a station before proceeding into the River. This shuttle needs to have its carbon dioxide scrubbers replaced soon, and I figured it would save time if we did it on the way. We'll be docked at station 4 of the River's orbital ring for approximately 15 minutes before proceeding."

"Station 4…that's one of the stations you gave to the humans as part of one of your treaties with them, isn't it?" Opulous asked.

"Yes, it is, but technically it's a shared station. They don't get exclusive rights to it, under the same treaty all stations are equal access to all ships, no matter race or nationality." Shakara replied.

"Oh geez. Can't we use one of our stations instead?" Venius whined.

"The nearest one is a quarter of the way around the planet, and with engines at maximum, it would take us two and a half hours to reach. You've got to remember that these shuttles are designed to be as fast or nimble as the gunships, but rather sturdy and more comfortable. Do you really want to wait that long just to avoid seeing a few humans out the window?" Shakara scolded.

Venius sighed heavily. "I guess not."

"Are we ready to go yet?" Cygnus asked impatiently.

"Yes, I suppose so. Make sure you have yourselves buckled, sometimes takeoffs can be rough too!" Shakara said, and then turned and sat in her pilot's chair.

Despite Shakara's warning, the takeoff was exceedingly smooth. The engines of the shuttle hummed in a much more subdued and smoother tone than any gunship, and they gently lifted off of the lawn and accelerated like a feather on the wind. Opulous marveled at his aunt's piloting skills, and hoped to achieve them in training someday soon as well.

"Ummmm, Aunt Shakara, is it ok if we make a quick stop before entering orbit?" Nolus suddenly asked.

"You didn't ask her yet?" Cygnus whispered to Nolus in a frustrated tone.

"What kind of stop?" Shakara asked, sounding slightly irritated.

"Well, I was hoping we could fly to the Pokemon University in Kanto to pick up Asha. I wanted to take her with us on the trip." Nolus replied.

There was a tense pause, and Shakara and Tanis exchanged glances.

"I don't see why not. Maybe we can rope Ashley along with her." Tanis said.

"Alright, but you'll owe me some extra homework later, Venius." Shakara said.

It was an uneventful 15 minute side trip to reach the city where the University was located, and they had to hover a handful of yards away from the City's controlled airspace to wait for clearance before flying over to the Square with the engines on noise-reduction mode. Asha was sitting on an iron bench waiting eagerly when they finally landed, and she scampered inside, lifting her wheeled backpack up on one arm as she ascended the steps inside.

"Looks like you did a bang up job with your begging Nolus!" Asha said cheerfully as she entered. "Where should I put my books?"

"There are baggage compartments along the walls over there to the left, you can put your stuff in there but make sure they're strapped in so they can't shift." Nolus said.

"Hey Asha, do you think you could go fetch your mom and have her come with us?" Tanis asked, turning around to look at her from his chair.

"Probably not, she just collected 600 different exams from our classes, each of which is at least 10 pages long, and she and the aides need to have them all graded by next week. I don't think she has the time to spend jaunting around space." Asha said.

"Oh, that's a shame. I really did want to see her. Oh well, get your bags stowed and buckled up, and we'll be off and out of here." Tanis said.

Asha looked uncomfortable in a seat designed for one with Tanis' anatomy, but she strapped herself in tightly nonetheless. Cygnus snickered and pointed to how her pants sagged into the hole where a tail was supposed to go, and Nolus gave him a gesture to cut it out.

They took off gently once again and rose through the air with grace like that of a bird. Shakara eased them into a gentle acceleration directly toward the dark blue sky, and the sky filled the huge translucent view screen in front of all of them.

"I'll tell you what I told everyone else Asha, riding in the Blue River isn't exactly a gentle or pleasant experience, and it has the potential to be even more uncomfortable for you since the shape of your body doesn't match the contours of these seats which were originally designed for people of my species. The G-forces you will feel, although not dangerous, will make you feel ill, so be prepared." Shakara said.

"No worries. My mom warned me about it when I told her about the trip today. She and I always ride on thrill rides together too, so it shouldn't be too surprising for me." Asha said.

The dark blue of the sky began to darken and fall away and they passed through thinner and thinner layers of atmosphere.

"Trust me, it can and will surprise you." Tanis cautioned. "Don't let your guard down."

There was silence in the cabin for awhile as they passed into the vacuum of space, and Opulous stared intently in wonder at the stars. They were clearer than he had ever seen down on the surface before, and they shone an even and clear glow instead of twinkling like before. More idle chatter began soon, but this time Opulous chose not to listen, instead preferring to concentrate on the stars on the screen before him. They stayed stationary for several more minutes before Shakara turned the ship a bit and brought the River's orbital ring into view. At their current distance the ring was only visible as a few bright blinking red and white lights superimposed over a diffuse blue glow. The station was a cluster of even brighter lights sitting at one point along the ring, with a few visible moving lights nearby that were most likely other ships.

A series of short, loud beeps drew Opulous out of his trance and caught the attention of everyone in the cabin. It stopped in a few seconds, and Tanis stared at the console with a confused expression.

"Well, that was bizarre." Tanis said succinctly.

"What, what was it?" Asha asked.

"Just a little blip on the sensors. It only registered for a few milliseconds, and it was barely detectable."

"Probably just a sensor ghost, it happens every once in a while." Shakara said. "Nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, but I think I saw something too." Venius interjected.

"What, what kind of thing did you see?" Tanis asked.

"It's hard to describe, almost as if something was bending the starlight over in that corner for a second, kind of like looking through a rising updraft of hot air." Venius said.

"I'll run a full sweep then." Shakara said.

After a tense silence, Shakara frowned and spoke, "It must have been some kind of error in our view screen, the ship's sensors are reading emptiness and dust."

"I don't sense anything with my mind either." Tanis added.

"Well, isn't it a bit odd that Venius would see a distortion at the exact same time the sensors picked something up?" Opulous asked.

"It is, but I'm afraid there's just nothing out there. As Shakara said, there could have been an error in our equipment that affected the sensors and the screen too. It's not like there's anything else we can do." Tanis said.

"I just wonder why I didn't see what it is you saw, Venius. I was looking at the screen at the same time as you and everything looked normal." Opulous said.

"Well it doesn't matter anyway, we're 10 minutes from docking at the station now, and they can tell us if they detected anything abnormal too." Shakara said.

A few more minutes of worries silence persisted again before everyone broke out into mindless chatter once more. Opulous chose to not listen again, choosing instead to pay more attention to the screen to see if he could catch sight of another distortion should it appear again. The station and the river grew in their vision relatively quickly, and Opulous had seen nothing by the time the metallic sheen of the station's outer hull filled the screen. The shuttle turned to properly orient its doors to the docking port, and after a series of thumps and clangs everything was secure. Tanis and Shakara unbuckled and stood to leave.

"We'll be back in 10 minutes, the men bringing the replacement scrubbers will come and do their work during that time. Don't bother them!" Tanis said, emphasizing the last part of his speech to Venius, who only grunted in reply.

Tanis and Shakara left, and less than a minute later a pair of human men in dirty work clothes trudged in carrying four long aluminum capsules.

"Heyo." One of the men said, and nodded curtly before opening the door to the engine room and disappearing inside with his partner.

"Good lord, they reek!" Venius exclaimed, holding his paw over his face. "Don't they even know how to bathe?"

"Hey, remember what dad said." Opulous scolded. "They're doing their job, and we should be grateful enough for that."

"Man, I am so excited!" Asha suddenly said. "This is going to be great!"

"You know it! We even get to make stops and visit Weyard and Hyrule!" Cygnus said.

"We do?" Nolus asked, "Sweet! I didn't know that!"

There was a loud crash from back in the engine room, and one of the humans yelled out a long and complex chain of profanities that would have put any gang member to shame. Everyone the cabin turned around to look, most of them with profound looks of shock on their faces.

"Foul mouthed apes." Venius huffed. "They had better not have broken anything!"

"I haven't even heard a few of those words, and I've been through high school!" Asha exclaimed.

More metallic clanking and cursing drifted from the back of the ship, and the scowl on Venius' face deepened profoundly. Soon the others learned to ignore it and continued with their chatting, and Opulous settled back into his seat and relaxed, letting all outside noise drift over him ineffectively. He wanted to do a little mental preparation for the ride through the River, since he was still unsure how well his body could handle it. Before he knew it the human men left carrying the old scrubbers, and his father and Shakara returned.

"Ready to go?" Tanis asked, sitting down in his chair.

"Definitely. Did the station's sensors detect the same thing we did?" Opulous asked, cutting straight to the point.

"No, their sensors have been quiet for months. Apparently we just had a bit of a false blip." Tanis said. "Did everything go well with the replacement parts?"

"If you don't count the colorful vocabularies and hygiene of the humans who did the repairs, everything was routine." Venius said.

"Alright, we're ready to make the jump then!" Tanis said, and the docking clamps suddenly released with another heavy thud.

Their shuttle flew parallel to the station' hull until they found the large sliding steel doors that lead to the interior chambers. The doors were already open, so they floated inside slowly, turning a few corners before finding the second set of doors that kept the entry chamber for the Blue River. A glowing red X sign was blinking just to the right of the doors, indicating that there was still another ship inside. They waited there for a few minutes more until the red X sign flickered off and was replaced by a green check mark sign, and the thick steel doors slowly slid open.

"Alright, this is your last chance to get buckled and secured! I don't want to have to treat anybody for concussions!" Tanis said.

Opulous instinctively fingered his sea belt and ground his teeth slightly. Their ship entered the chamber and the doors closed behind them, and the bottom of the chamber opened up below them to reveal the twisting maelstrom of electric blue. Tanis and Shakara fidgeted with the controls, and lines of commands scrolled down the sides of the screen. Spiraling metal coils all along the wall around them glowed a bright blue, and various gasps and sighs of awe curled through the cabin.

"Whoa, I'm weightless!" Asha exclaimed, grasping her seat belt.

"This is totally incredible!" Nolus said.

"Hold on to your seats, the charges are about to fire" Shakara shouted.

Opulous caught sight of a countdown a few seconds away from reaching zero, and clenched his stomach right before it ran out. A blast of white and blue light filled the screen, and the whole shuttle rattled violently, and Opulous was slammed back into his seat. He felt compressed into his seat, as if his own weight had quadrupled and gravity was focused behind him. His vision quickly began to fade out and he nearly passed out from the G forces acting on him, but after a few seconds a deep hum filled the cabin and the forces reduced to a manageable level. As his perception returned to normal, he heard a loud, insistent alarm ringing from the control panels at the front of the cabin. His vision cleared and he saw Tanis and Shakara frantically messing with the controls, which were flashing red warning lights all over.

"What's going on, what's wrong?" Tamista asked urgently.

"The steering and control system shorted out!"

Opulous' blood ran cold, it was the first time he had been utterly terrified in his life. He grabbed his buckle and nearly unfastened it to stand up, but the shuttle began to shift and turn. He was tossed against the side of his seat, where there was no padding, and bruises appeared on the left side of his torso.

"We're drifting toward the inner wall!" Tanis said frantically. "The controls are still unresponsive!"

"Go to manual control! You know what happened the last time we disrupted the River Wall's continuity!"

A set of manual control sticks emerged from underneath the panel and Tanis and Shakara both grabbed them in unison and pulled them to the left as hard as they could. The ship's curving trajectory only changed slightly though, and they continued to drift closer and closer to the glowing blue of the River's wall.

"I don't understand, manual's not working either!" Shakara yelled, panic her voice as well.

"We're going to hit the wall, everyone brace yourselves!" Tanis shouted.

Opulous grabbed the arms of his seat and clenched his tail around the base of the chair. He saw the blue wall of energy fill the view screen and clenched his eyes shut right before the collision occurred. He heard a massive electrical crashing noise like a large power generator exploding, and the ship spun around violently. Opulous was thrown back and forth in his seat, the strap biting his flesh and the sides of the chair bruising him further. He opened his eyes and saw through the screen that they were still inside the River, but were twirling around inside it like a rogue spinning top.

Tanis and Shakara began glowing with power, and the metal frame of the ship groaned loudly from the sudden strain. The two of them co-operated to psychically steady the ship and put it back on course, stopping the spin and putting it on the correct path to keep it from hitting the wall again.

A thought struck Opulous, and since the ship was steadying, he took the chance to unbuckle and stand up from his seat. Tanis and Shakara were too busy concentrating on keeping the ship on course to see, but Cygnus and the others turned around and shouted at him to get back in his seat. He ignored them and ran into the engine room, looking for the access panel where the carbon dioxide scrubbers were. He found the panel, slammed it open and examined it frantically, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. A sudden prickly burning sensation covered the top of his head, and he looked up and saw sparks tumbling down from one of the bundles of cable on the ceiling, which had been very obviously cut. Opulous guess that it was the cables for the manual controls, so he reached up and psychically repaired them. The wires melted back together and solidified, and the ship jerked and tumbled, tossing Opulous off his feet. He landed on his bruised side and winced in pain, but the jarring stopped immediately and he climbed back to his feet. He sprinted back to the cabin only to see that Tanis and Shakara had regained control and we're holding onto the manual sticks with firm grips.

"Whatever you did, Opulous, it worked! Good job!" Tanis said.

Opulous sighed in relief and lowered himself into his old seat. "I don't know what caused the autonav system to fail, but I did find that the manual steering lines had been cut." Opulous replied.

"I bet those scumbag humans did it!" Venius growled. "They're the only ones who could have!"

"We'll investigate it later, right now we need to focus on making it through the River intact, manual steering isn't easy at these speeds you know!" Shakara said.

"We're lucky the River didn't collapse when we struck it." Cygnus observed.

"Lucky, but things aren't totally safe. The sensors are lighting up with all sorts of unidentified disturbances and imbalances rippling across the River. It very well could collapse n a few minutes." Shakara said. "I'm even detecting radio signals in here!"

"Put them on the speakers, there's never been any instance of signals like this inside the River." Tanis said.

Static and white noise poured from the cabin's speakers, and everyone silently listened for a moment. Not a single recognizable sound was audible for many long seconds, and Tanis was about to turn it off when a single word arose from the chaos: 'firing!'

The static began to thin, and the distorted sounds of rumbling and explosions replaced it as background noise. A shattered monologue filled with breaks of static and interference managed to crawl its way through the noise.

"Fusion charges…line 12, their formation…ing….advancing at points 32 and….flanked their low lines…no good!"

Opulous turned and exchanged a glance with his brother Nolus, who looked equally confused and shaken.

"…back to the fifth marker…protect the…all costs!...3 cruisers left, fall back to the blue…"

A violent electrical screech marked the end of the signal, and the speakers returned to the torrential stream of static. Tanis fiddled with the controls for a moment, and then cut the speakers, leaving them in silence.

"That was creepy." Asha remarked.

"Didn't that voice sound familiar?" Tanis asked.

"Yes, but I couldn't really pinpoint it." Shakara replied.

"The disturbances seem to be ebbing though, the energy spikes are smoothing out and the wall is stabilizing." Tanis said, studying the readouts on the holographic console.

"We're getting close to the slowdown marker too; we'll have to manually make the turn-jump exit maneuver." Shakara said.

"You're right, in less than a minute actually." Tanis said, and then turned back to face the passengers behind him, "This could be equally jarring, so be ready!"

A little countdown timer appeared in the bottom right corner of the screen, and as it neared zero, the exit portal in the top of the River's Wall appeared. The screen highlighted it in red, and the highlight turned green just as the window of opportunity for using it opened. Tanis pulled back on the controls and the ship nosed upward and slid through the exit portal, barely passing without touching the walls. The blackness of normal space rushed up to fill the screen, and they shot away from the River at incredible speed. Tanis gently hit the nose rockets to slow them down, and when they eventually came to a stop, the River and the planet were small points in the distance.

"Well, that was certainly an exciting first trip eh?" Melicia said.

"Indeed, and hopefully it'll never be that exciting again." Opulous replied.

**Chapter IV – NI**

_One of Shakara's greatest accomplishments as leader of the Protectorate was the intensively detailed study of the worlds of Hyrule and Weyard. By leaving science vessels in orbit around the two planets with their scanning and sensor equipment running for several weeks straight, she was able to develop a unifying theory of energy to explain the phenomenons of magic and alchemy. This theory would eventually lead to several scientific leaps and bounds in the fields of energy collection, generation, and utilization. Such advances allowed for more efficient reactors in spacecraft, cheaper energy bills for homes and businesses, and even artificial psychic powers in a few lucky experimental volunteers. Most members of the scientific community harbor a great respect for Shakara for these accomplishments._

"I still can't believe you beat Jenna in Weyardian Chess!" Nolus exclaimed.

"It was all logic." Opulous said, with a very subtle grin playing across his face. "That and she had become complacent in her status as the master of the game."

"It was truly a match for the ages." Asha said, giggling under her breath.

Opulous turned to look ahead toward the view screen, and Nolus followed his gaze. The blue of the Hypalian planet was swelling up to greet them.

"Hey Asha, how much do you know about Hyrule?" Tanis interjected.

"Quite a bit, actually. My mom had all sorts of stories and lessons about it." Asha said. "The planet is named Hypalia, and there are three large continents amid a large ocean. The south most continent, Suhera, is largely unpopulated and wild, and is of a tropical climate. Northwest of it is the continent of Iress, which is dominated by one large imperial kingdom of the same name. And east of Iress is Hyera, where the nations of Hyrule, Dantun, Bensor, and Il'Nead are located."

"Well I'm glad you know your Geography, but I meant more specifically about the nation of Hyrule in general." Tanis said.

The hull of the shuttle began to rattle a little as they entered the outer layers of the atmosphere. The brownish greens of the three continents were now clearly visible through the thick layers of clouds, and the vast oceans around them were a deep cobalt blue.

"I know that the central government is a hereditary monarch under the rule of Queen Ilana, and that there are smaller governmental subsets for each race, each of which is controlled by a local ruler who is subordinate to Ilana. The bloodlines of most of these leaders have been intact for thousands of years, despite Ares' violent conquest. Their culture is built around hospitality, commerce, and a reverent respect for the Goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore of the native religion."

"You know all this off of the top of your head?" Cygnus asked, obviously impressed.

"I wonder where she's keeping the cheat sheet." Venius muttered.

Nolus gave Venius a stinging glare, and Venius just frowned and looked back at the screen. The hull was now shaking eagerly, and there were little tongues of flame shooting across it.

"I also know that the Gerudo, Goron, and Kokiri races have extremely long life spans, sometimes reaching up to 500 years." Asha added.

"Ok ok, it sounds like your mom has been teaching you well. You've proven yourself." Tanis said, chuckling a bit.

"I knew Ashley wouldn't raise an ignoramus." Shakara said to Tanis, smiling.

"It's no mystery why I get straight A's in all the classes my mom teaches." Asha proclaimed proudly.

Nolus heard a barely audible scoff from Venius, and he psychically spoke to him, telling him to shut his mouth or father would probably never take them on another trip like this again. Venius simply frowned again in response.

The rattling of the hull slowly quieted down, and the clouds began to part before them, giving a clear view of the topography of the Hyeran Continent below them. To Nolus the sight was gorgeous, he could see ever geographic feature on the continent, from the brownish greens of the central grasslands to the grey crags of the mountain ranges that lined the northern shores. He could even see the deep green hues of the Lost Woods from up here; it was the largest forest on the planet after all. The Dead Lands of Dantun were visible as a large patch of grey emptiness, and the Draconian Heights of Bensor stood high like towers amongst the Snowy Mountains.

"That atmospheric entry was remarkably smooth when compared to when we went to Weyard." Opulous observed.

"Tanis and I tweaked the Inertial Compensators while you were all playing Weyardian Chess. Apparently our experimental settings worked well." Shakara said. "I'll have to publish them when we get back to Earth."

Hyrule came up at them quickly and filled the screen, and the details of the landscape filled Nolus' vision like water filling a crystal pitcher. He had been curious if there would still be visual evidence of the abusiveness of Ares' regime, but the land had recovered itself remarkably. Nolus remembered seeing pictures of Hyrule during his history classes, and Death Mountain had been covered with blackened scars and holes from Ares' industrial cities and mines, but as he saw it now it was clean and even, as if nothing had ever happened here. Not a single trace of any of Ares' bases was left; the wild plants had already grown to fill the spaces where they had sat. The farmlands and ranches which had been forced to use harsh chemical and industrial methods to maximize crop production had now been restored to a lush green. No more were the sickly yellow-green spots that Nolus had seen in the pictures; nature had healed these lands too. The once-polluted Zora's river was clear as glass again, and the great gaps in the forest from Ares' chopping programs had amazingly re-grown. It seemed miraculous to Nolus that the environment could have recovered so quickly, but he reminded himself that his father and Shakara had been the ones to help in the recovery, and he couldn't help but smile.

The shuttle landed in the western region of Hyrule, right next to the Gerudo Palace. Kalana and Ruru came running out to meet them as the shuttle settled onto the ground, and they were waiting there holding gifts when the shuttle door opened and they climbed out.

"Is that Hylian Redberry pie I smell?" Tanis asked with a smile as he and the others stepped down out of the shuttle.

"I know it's your favorite." Kalana said.

"Glad to finally have you people over for a visit again." Ruru said. "It's been long overdue."

"I hope you made more than one pie though, I brought the whole troupe this time!" Tanis said, and stepped aside, letting everyone else emerge.

"By Din, look at all of you! I didn't expect this!" Kalana exclaimed. "This is your first time visiting Hyrule too, isn't it?"

"Sure is!" Nolus said excitedly.

"Well I think a bit of a tour is in order! Do you think you can stay that long?" Kalana asked.

"It's why we came to visit, of course!" Tanis said.

"Well come on, let's get going then! I'll scare up some more pie to eat, and then we'll see if I can get us some carriages for a tour!"

They walked together as a large group into the Gerudo Palace, and as they walked through the ornately decorated walls, Nolus suddenly sensed a wave of distressed emotions from Venius. He turned to look at Venius, and saw that Venius was staring down the hallway behind them with a terrified look on his face. He looked to see what Venius was staring at, but saw nothing. When he looked back at Venius, he saw that he had turned back and continued walking like normal. Nolus felt confused and worried, especially since he could still sense his brother's fear, but since there really wasn't anything obviously wrong, he continued walking as well. They reached the dining hall before long, and Kalana and Ruru summoned up a great platter of various foods, including several more pies. Nolus sat between Asha and Cygnus, and the food was doled out in generous portions.

"Awww, I already filled up on Mia's cooking when we were in Weyard!" Asha groaned.

"Just try a bit of this pie, its amazing!" Nolus said, waving a plate with some pie under her nose and grinning mischievously.

Asha took a piece with her fork and nibbled a bit, and a look of ecstasy flooded her face. "This is the best pie I've ever had in my life!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks, it's our personal best." Ruru said graciously.

"I told you it was good!" Nolus said, grinning broadly.

Asha grabbed the plate that he had been waving in front of her and kept it for herself, and then dug in.

At that moment, Nolus heard a violent retching sound to his right, and he turned and saw that Venius had fallen out of his seat and was vomiting all over the floor. Everyone in the room stood, and Tanis ran over to help him. He raised his paw to indicate to Tanis to stay back, and retched twice more before recovering. He grabbed the table and climbed to his knees, and Nolus saw a mess of half-chewed pie all over his face.

"Napkin…please." Venius stammered.

One of the Gerudo serving maids rushed over with a towel, and Venius grabbed it brusquely and wiped his face. When he was done, he tossed it over his shoulder at her and moved to sit at a different seat. Everyone was just staring at him at this point.

"Are you alright?" Tanis asked.

Nolus could feel more horrified emotions from Venius again.

"Fine, just fine. I think I might have the flu." Venius said dismissively.

"Oh dear Farore, I hope it wasn't the food that made you sick!" Kalana fretted.

"No….not at all." Venius said quietly. I just have this stomach problem that flares up every once in awhile."

Nolus knew that Venius was lying to be polite; he had never seen his brother vomit like that before. It couldn't explain all these emotions he could sense from him either, but Nolus this wasn't the time nor place to ask, and so did everyone else. Venius quietly sat back down, and everybody else followed suit. The eating continued in uncomfortable silence for several more minutes. When everyone finished, Kalana Ruru lead them back outside, where an extra-large, luxurious carriage was waiting for them.

"Where do you all want to go first?" Kalana asked, climbing atop and taking the reigns.

"Well, why don't we start at the Spirit Temple?" Tanis suggested.

"Ah, you want to show off your handiwork to the sons eh?" Kalana said with a grin.

"You know it!" Tanis replied.

The ride to the temple was short and uneventful, and Nolus spent it staring out the window at the grasslands as they passed by. As they approached the Temple, the grasses thinned out and the sands of the desert crept around the wheels of the carriage. The stout orange stone and glinting stained glass of the Temple stood tall above the beginnings of the desert. The carriage rolled to a stop in front of its great wooden doors.

"You mean this is the temple that you said you and Shakara built?" Cygnus marveled, stepping down from the carriage.

"The very one." Tanis said, walking towards the doors.

Entering the Temple, Nolus couldn't help but stare at the two large guardian statues that stood before them at the head of the great hall. Two large hooded cobras glared down at them with ruby eyes, their hoods inscribed with ancient Hylian text. Nolus knew he couldn't read it even if he tried, so he didn't bother trying. Instead he marveled at the smoothness and precision with which the carvings had been made, the orange stone shined almost as if it had been polished. Kalana and Ruru lightly bowed their heads in reverence and whispered prayers in Ancient Hylian. Nolus didn't know the prayers, but he bowed his head with them as a sign of respect. The others followed suit except for Venius, who looked as if he wanted to scoff again.

The Nolus remembered talking with his father once about the Temples of Old Hyrule once. Tanis told him that before Ares invaded and destroyed them, the Elemental Temples used to be great labyrinthine puzzles, each filled with a great number of traps, locked doors, and even monsters to test those who ventured into them. Supposedly, these obstacles were designed to weed out those who were unworthy of wielding the elemental powers guarded within, and many who foolishly wandered into them often never came back out. The new Temples that Tanis had built were much different than this however. Instead of testing worthiness with mazes and traps, his Temples were places of resting and worship. The Spirit Temple that he built was the grandest example of this. It consisted of a lowered entryway with the Sister Cobra Demigoddesses, a great hall with the statue of the Desert Goddess at the far end, and eight smaller branching rooms, 4 of which were used for shelters, and 4 which were dedicated to some of the less significant deities of the Hylian Pantheon. The great hall had a raised arched ceiling that reached nearly 20 feet tall, and featured 8 stained glass windows, 4 on either side. Nolus looked up at the windows, fascinated by the craftsmanship they displayed. The farthest window on the left portrayed Mewtwo holding aloft the Master Sword, and the farthest window on the right portrayed Tanis standing victorious over a defeated Ares.

"Huh? What?" Kalana stuttered, a shocked look suddenly painting her face. She broke away from the group and ran forward, crossing the length of the great hall in a few graceful bounds. The rest of them ran to catch up.

Kalana stood at the foot of the statue of the Desert Goddess, staring at the 7 foot tall shrine that sat at its feet. The shrine, which was naught but a large, circular stone slab, was covered in tiny etchings of Hylian text. In the center of the circular tablet a single golden gem was inlaid into the stone, and just below it a single golden metal disc was also inlaid.

"I can't believe it!" Kalana whispered.

"Can't believe what? What's going on?" Cygnus asked loudly.

Tanis gestured to Cygnus to be quiet, and stepped up beside Kalana to get a closer look.

"The Medallion….I thought it was lost after Ares destroyed the old temple! It's…it's returned to us!" Kalana whispered.

"What can it mean?" Ruru asked.

"I don't know, we should tell Ilana and the others immediately." Kalana said.

"Do we need to leave?" Tanis asked.

"No, it's alright. I'll fly over to Hyrule Castle with Nulive; you can stay here with my sister." Ruru said.

"I don't want to stay here though, I want to keep going!" Venius protested.

Melicia elbowed Venius to get him to stop whining.

"We can keep going, we don't have to stay here. I'm just going to close and lock the doors as we leave." Kalana said.

Nolus felt a sudden surge of curiosity. Kalana and Ruru turned to leave, and as the rest of the group trailed behind to follow, Nolus reached out and touched the Medallion. A red-hot jolt of energy assaulted his senses for a millisecond, filling his senses and causing a burning pain through his body. He stumbled back away from the altar, gasping silently and grasping his arm. He clamped his eyes closed and took a few deep breaths while he regained his balance and control. When he opened his eyes again, his vision had a strange, distorted quality. He could see a warm, peaceful glow radiating from the stones of the Temple around him, so he blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes. Opening his eyes again, he looked at his paws and saw a green aural glow surrounding them, and the red pulse of the lifeblood within them. He turned and looked back at the Medallion and was nearly blinded by the light it was emitting. To him it was a great swirling nexus of golden energy, and swarms of thousands of motes of light were swirling around it, both entering into it and spraying away in plumes.

"Hey Nolus! Come on!" Tanis' voice shouted.

Nolus was startled by his father and flinched. In that moment his vision flickered again and turned back to normal. He turned to see his father and Kalana waiting by the door. The rest of the group was already outside waiting.

"Coming!" Nolus yelled, and ran across the Temple hall as fast as they could.

"What were you doing back there?" Kalana asked him as they walked out and closed the doors.

"Uhh, nothing. I wanted to make sure I had a good look at the writings before leaving." Nolus said nervously.

Kalana gave him a funny look, and Tanis frowned at him slightly, but neither of them said anything. Nolus smiled weakly and walked over the climb into the carriage, trying to escape their scrutiny. He felt guilty and a bit afraid of what he had done, and he was still reeling from the strange visions he had seen. He felt a stirring in the back of his mind, it had felt eerily familiar to him, but he couldn't place it. He could still feel an odd tingling sensation all over his body as well.

Climbing into the carriage and sitting between Tamista and Venius, Nolus was overcome with another wave of feelings again, and he did his best to conceal it from his family. He kept a façade of normality on his outside and clenched his eyes shut again. He could suddenly hear voices around him, which he recognized as those of those who were sitting all around him.

"I would really enjoy a candy bar right about now…" Tamista's voice said.

"I really wonder if this Medallion thing is really worth all this trouble." Venius' voice griped.

"Oh shit, I forgot that history matching worksheet. I'll need to do it first thing when I get home." Asha's voice moaned.

More and more voices filled Nolus' head, many of which spoke all in unison so that their words blended together into an indistinguishable mishmash of chatter. Nolus knew that none of them were psychically projecting their thoughts at him as well, as several of the thoughts he heard sounded very personal. Also, whenever he psychically talked with any of his family members, it usually involved a detectable mental linkage that consumed energy and was easy to disconnect, and now there wasn't even a link to disconnect. He tried to block them out, but they chattered on unabated. When he opened his eyes, the strange vision had returned to him. He looked at Opulous, who was sitting across from him, and saw him sitting inside an aura of blue and white energy. Lines of energy were flowing through him, energy which represented his essence and life.

Nolus' memory finally clicked in recognition, and his mind was carried out of the carriage in the present back into his past and his childhood. He remembered himself as a child of barely 5 years, sitting out in the forest and meditating for the very first time. He was looking right at the life auras of every living thing in the forest. He could see the weak green energies of the trees and grass Pokemon that slowly bent in the breeze, and when his brother appeared out of the foliage, he saw his brother's aura as well. Cygnus had been bathed in a warm orange and red glow, like a gentle little flame that burns on a candle, and his psychic third eye was a glowing point of energy on his forehead.

"Hey Nolus, are you alright?" Tamista asked, grabbing his shoulder.

Nolus returned to the present and blinked, and in that instant his vision returned to normal again. "Yeah, I'm fine Tam. Just spacing out a bit." He said.

"Funny, that's usually Opulous' job." Tamista said, and giggled.

Nolus laughed and slugged her playfully on the shoulder, and then turned to look at Opulous to see what his reaction had been. He was staring out the carriage window and spacing out as usual, not paying attention to either of them.

"You're right on the money as usual Tam." Nolus said.

"Laugh it up all you want, but I do know how to listen you know." Opulous suddenly said, not looking away from the window. Nolus looked back over at him and saw that a tiny grin had crept onto his face for a few moments before vanishing.

When nobody said anything else, Nolus returned to his thoughts. It had been over 12 years since he had last been able to see life auras. The power had come to him at that young age suddenly, and only worked in sporadic increments. After he first discovered it, he had spent several months training himself to control it, until he could turn it on and off at will. He enjoyed it for awhile until that one day when his family had nearly fallen apart. He shuddered when he remembered that days, it was one of the darkest days he had ever lived through. Just thinking about it caused his memories to rise up again, despite his unwillingness to relive them.

He had been playing tag with Cygnus, Tamista, and Satoria that day. Venius was sitting on the sidelines watching, Opulous was inside studying, and Tanis and Shakara were both in their lab bunkers across the yard. Nolus had his aura-see ability turned on so that he could use it to predict where his siblings were going to run during the tag game, but he was concentrating on the game so hard that he didn't notice it when Venius wandered off and disappeared into the forest. He played and had fun until his aura vision suddenly caught sight of a huge glowing tower of reddish energy somewhere off in the distance. He stopped to stare at it, and it grew in size as he watched it, and its sinister color and shape had filled his still immature mind with terror. He knew the others couldn't see it.

A few moments later, the massive negative aura erupted into a fireball of pure energy, and in Nolus' vision it took on the form of a massive evil face, one that seemed to speak to him and tell him that it wanted to burn all of creation to dust. He knew it wasn't just a vision as well, when he heard a massive explosion and saw hundreds of bird Pokemon fly away in terror.

Of course, Tanis and Shakara flew over there straight away, and when they came back Tanis was carrying a badly injured and still terrified Venius in his arms. He asked his father what had happened, but Tanis didn't answer as he ran to take Venius to the bunker where he kept the med-bay.

That night, Nolus overheard his father in a huge screaming argument with Aunt Shakara in the house. Venius was spending the night in the med-bay, and the rest of his siblings were in bed asleep. He hadn't been able to sleep that night because he was still terrified by the aura he had seen in the forest, and when he heard his father and aunt roaring at each other in rage, he crept out into the hallway to listen to them. Nolus still didn't remember what his father was arguing with Shakara about, but he vividly remembered looking around the corner to look at them while they fought. With his aura vision on, he saw clouds of hateful energy surrounding his father and aunt as they argued, making them both look like demons. It struck him with such terror that afterwards, he decided to turn his ability to see these auras off permanently just so he would never have to see anything so horrible again. And over the years, he had slowly forgotten about it and blocked out the memories, until it was completely gone from his mind.

Nolus now knew that touching the Medallion must have somehow brought back his power to see auras. He sat there in the carriage pondering it for almost an hour as they rode through Hyrule Field, silent and solemn in his thought. His family members chatted idly around him and the landscape whizzed by, and soon he was interrupted in his thoughts when Asha laid her hand on his.

"You're been unusually quit for this ride, bro. Normally you'd have piles of things to talk to me about. Is something on your mind?" Asha asked.

"Just some memories coming to the surface. Stuff that I haven't thought about in a long time." Nolus replied quietly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not now. Maybe when we get back home, when there aren't so many ears around."

Asha shrugged. "Works for me. Just ask if you want to talk before then."

Nolus started digging back into his thoughts again, but he was quickly interrupted by a strong wave of emotions radiating from Venius. This time, with Nolus' apparently heightened senses, the feelings felt even stronger, and he could almost hear Venius' thoughts this time. He didn't need to turn on his aura vision to know that it was fear as well. This time he decided to get to the bottom of whatever it was that was bothering his brother, so he reached out to psychically talk with him.

"What's wrong Venius?"

"Can you see them?" Venius asked.

"See who?"

Venius tilted his head to indicate the landscapes that were passing by outside the window. Nolus looked out there and saw absolutely nothing; the grassy plains were practically empty except for an occasional cow or horse. Nolus still could sense something though, and he knew that something was definitely distressing his brother, so there must have been something out there. He decided to try and turn on the aura vision again, it would be the first time he did voluntarily since he was nearly 5 years old. He clenched his eyes shut and willed the power to come forth like he had taught himself to do so long ago, and when he opened his eyes a sight sprawled out before him that struck him cold with fear and awe.

Out in the field were the ghostly aural forms of spirits. More than that, they were the spirits of Goron, Zora, and Gerudo soldiers, and there were thousands of them. They were wearing shining steel armor and stood in huge ranks, and as Nolus watched, chaos broke out amongst them. Not a sound could be heard as huge horde or flying spectral dragons descended upon them and began butchering them. A scene of unimaginable violence played out before Nolus' eyes, and he couldn't bear to look away as the Dragons eviscerated and torched the numerically inferior mixed forces. When there were none left to impose the dragons, and the fields were soaked with blood and blackened with dragonfire, the vision ended and the phantoms disappeared, letting the field return to its normal, empty state. Nolus turned to look at Venius, and Venius just gave him a grim nod.

"So this is what's been bothering you all day? Even at dinner?" Nolus psychically whispered.

"The dinner one was a bit different. My dinner roll looked like a severed section of someone's arm." Venius said.

Nolus gasped and covered his mouth in disgust. No wonder Venius had vomited!

"I'm just glad you can see these now too." Venius said after a moment.

"I think we should tell father. Right away." Nolus said.

"No!" Venius said sternly. "I know he can sense my distress, it's obvious that you could too. Now isn't the right time to talk about it, no matter how terrifying it is."

Nolus couldn't help but agree. He ended the conversation right there, and made sure to turn off his aura vision to make sure one of those phantoms didn't startle. He returned to his thoughts again for the remainder of the trip. He was now sure that touching the Medallion had amplified his abilities and brought back his aura vision, but for how long? It seemed to be trailing off now, the more time passed the more it dwindled. But it had dredged up parts of his childhood that he had thought had been put behind him, and he needed more time to mentally digest it all.

A/N: I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I write and, more importantly, WHY I write lately. Certain events concerning the last few chunks I've posted have gotten here have forced me to re-examine myself as an author, and I've come to a conclusion that has helped me both as an author and a human.

When I write, I do it as a creative and emotional release for myself. When I post my stuff here on it's so that my few friends and readers can enjoy it. The fact that you guys give me reviews is a perk, though a rather large one. Whether a few glowing words or a full on critique, most of the time I appreciate it. And though I do appreciate the sentiment behind critiques that try to help me to improve my writing, it IS possible to cross the line into rudeness.

This leads me to make this conclusion: Since I write mostly for myself, I needn't worry about rude comments. Sure, people have the right to make them, but I have the right to ignore them if I feel they are mean spirited. Sure, I do try to improve myself as an author, but I can't please everyone who reads, and I certainly don't have to try if it means writing in a way that feels uncomfortable to me, especially when comments get rude. So from now on, I'm going to change my policy: You can flame me all you want, but don't expect it to change anything. Of course, don't think I'm not going to listen to your reviews, just make sure to be polite and everything's hunky-dory!

And now that's off my chest, I feel like I can come out of my prison of writer's block and create freely again without worrying about what some people will say. Maybe the next few chunks will come in a much more timely fashion because of this! I have thanksgiving break from college coming up soon, and that should help. Thanks for reading!


	4. Part I: Brotherhood : Chunk 3

**The Four Mirrors**  
Sequel to 'Legacies'  
By MMM/AJ

_This third and final installation of the series is dedicated to Katie. My biggest fan, my best supporter/helper, and my closest friend._

**A/N:** Here's a standard 10 page chunk for you! A Venius and a Cygnus chapter, both with surprise twists for your personal enjoyment. Hope you like!

**Chapter V – V2**

Tossing and turning, twisting and aching. Venius couldn't get any sleep no matter what he tried. His body was sore, his stomach raw with pain, and his mind danced with the visions that had plagued him in Hyrule. He was torn between a fear of his nightmares and a primal need to rest, and in between those two poles was a state of agonizing inability that paralyzed him where he lay in the normally welcoming soft sheets of his bed. It was in this manner that Venius whiled away half of his night, too tired to do anything.

Sometime around 2 AM, something finally clicked inside head, and he finally gained the resolve to get up out of bed and do something. The moon glow that poured through the window into his room provided adequate light to guide him by, but it also cast eerie shadows over everything in his room. It almost made him eager for the darker rooms of the house where he was about to go. He opened his door ever so slightly to check and make sure nobody was about, and then crept into the hallway.

Venius' room used to be on the ground floor when he was a child, but when he had reached his teen years, Venius had asked to move up to the second floor and have a room near Shakara and the sisters. It was an odd quirk of his, he liked sleeping farther away from the ground for some reason.

Creeping past Shakara's door and down the hallway, Venius thought he sensed a little twinge of energy from Melicia's room, but he ignored it and began creeping down the stairs. If she was awake, then he didn't want to attract her attention, and if she was still asleep, all the better. He avoided the three squeaky steps near the bottom of the staircase and entered the ground floor still undetected. The doorway to the basement was at the end of the hall, past his brothers' and father's rooms. He crept pas them and felt another flicker from Cygnus' room, but again he ignored and proceeded onward, he was almost there now and so far had made it without being heard.

The stairwell down into the basement was filled with impenetrable inky blackness, and Venius had to probe ahead of himself with his feet to make sure he didn't stumble or miss a step. He reached the bottom safely, but now had to grope around the darkness to find the doorway into the secure store room without hitting the lights. He didn't want light shining underneath the crack of the basement door, which might catch the eye of someone getting up to use the restroom. In this situation Venius found it quite frustrating that the access panel to the store room didn't emit any sort of light. When he finally found it after feeling along the walls, he placed his paw in the scanner and breathed on the sensor, triggering the door to slide open with a succinct and sharp hiss. He made sure it was completely closed behind him before turning on the store room lights.

The lights stabbed at his unaccustomed eyes like little swords, and he stood there blinking dumbly for a few moments before setting his mind straight and walking across the room toward a display case on the far wall. Inside that little steel and plexiglass case was an innocent looking little metallic disc, a disc which Venius had stupidly touched the night before. This little disc, he theorized, was what had caused him to see all those visions during his trip to Hyrule. Since his brother had touched a similar one in the Spirit Temple, and had regained his aura sight ability, it was a reasonable assumption that they contained some power of sight within them, and Venius hoped he could figure out how to make this sight go away. He didn't really know how he was going to do it, but he knew that he had to try or he wouldn't sleep at all that night.

Venius popped the latch of the case open and lifted the lid gingerly, still instinctively being as quiet as possible despite the fact that the room he was in was well insulated against sound. He reached for the Medallion and hesitated, worrying about what might happen. He took a deep breath and scooped it up in his hand in one smooth motion, cringing from expectation. No bright flash of energy filled his senses this time, in fact nothing happened at all. He stood there dumbstruck, wondering what to do next.

A few moments later, something did happen, but it wasn't what he had expected. His vision fuzzed out, slowly replaced by a swirling mix of visions in his mind. At first, they moved too fast for him to discern what they contained, but eventually they slowed down and resolved into a series of images of different people. Venius saw Kalana and Ruru, several nameless Gerudos he could not recognize, his grandfather, a stately Hylian woman wearing the Royal Tiara, his father, Aunt Shakara, and then himself holding the Medallion. The vision concluded in a split second and Venius dropped the Medallion reflexively.

Venius didn't know what to make of what he had seen; it didn't seem to make any sense. He hadn't seen any visions like that the last time he had touched the Medallion, but then again, he hadn't held it in his hands like that last time either. Maybe the prolonged contact had allowed it to make a more meaningful connection to his mind? He realized that if that theory was correct, he might be able to ask it to take away the spirit-sight. He picked it back up and closed his eyes, concentrating on sending his message to it. He could feel it starting to get warm in his paws, and wondered hopefully if his idea had worked.

Suddenly Venius' senses detected that someone was awake upstairs, and he frantically sat the Medallion into its case, closed it up, and stumbled across the room to turn off the light. He sat in the Darkness for a short while, trying to sense whether anyone was coming down the stairs. He felt that there were two people awake upstairs, and that they were leaving the house. When they were far enough away, he slowly opened the door and crept up the stairs, deciding to investigate. He couldn't think of any reason why any of the members of his family would sneak out and leave the house like this at night, so he made up his mind to follow them and find out. He kept a fair distance behind them as they left the grounds and made their way towards the bike-path in the forest, and he moved slowly and cautiously, without using any of his powers, to ensure that he wouldn't be detected. He still couldn't tell who it was who he was following, and he became increasingly worried as they trekked along the bike path now in the open. They could run into humans out here, and father would be very unhappy if there was some kind of fight. Venius still had a lingering hatred for this little patch of road too. Walking along it was an exercise in steeling his nerves, as an old rooted phobia of his urged him to find cover.

After they had gone significantly deep into the forest, Venius' quarry suddenly kicked off of the ground and flew off in psychic flight. They left no visible energy trail, but Venius could still easily track them with his mind like a bloodhound on a scent. He waited until they were several miles away before taking flight in pursuit as well, he didn't want them sensing his flight so he needed to keep an even greater distance, as well as actively masking his own psychic signature. The darkened woods soared past underneath him peacefully, and the stars twinkled silently above. He would have stopped to admire the beauty of the night if he hadn't been too busy concentrating on tracking.

10 or 15 minutes later, they flew over a fairly large lake. There wasn't enough moonlight to make any significant glimmerings on the waters, so they laid dark and still like a pane of black stained glass. In the middle of the lake was a small island, and on it the remnants of what appeared to be an abandoned human settlement. Venius could barely make out rusty, run-down shacks through the darkness as he approached, and his quarry had gone into the town. He felt a lump form in his throat when he considered the prospect of going down into the ghost town, and he felt himself begin to sweat. He hated being near human domains when they were clean and well lit, so a deathtrap like this one was setting his instincts on fire with unease. He knew he would have some strong words for whichever of his family members had decided to come out here at night. He slowly set down on the grassy ground just outside the town and continued the pursuit.

The town was just as creepy as Venius had predicted. There were humble little ranch houses that had collapsed roofs, chipped paint, and broken windows. In several places there were piles of rubble where buildings had completely collapsed, and the jutting, rotten timbers looked like rib cages of some long dead corpse. He passed a water dock where a few ancient wooden boats were sitting silently on the water's glassy surface. The piers that jutted out into the water were full of holes and were covered with moss and algae. Venius saw his targets stop and sit on the shore near the docks. He heard them talking and crept closer, trying to make out what they were saying. He still couldn't make anything out after getting much closer, but he could recognize the voices of his brother Cygnus and his cousin Melicia.

Venius sat and waited in his hiding spot while they talked. He saw Melicia produce so kind of plastic bag, and she began eating some kind of snack food out of it. She shared it with Cygnus and the two of them ate and talked together for almost 20 minutes. After the food was gone they laid on their backs and looked up at the stars for awhile, and Venius began to get bored watching them. He considered going home since he had ascertained their identity and the general purpose of the trip, but before he could get up, they sat up suddenly as if surprised by something. Melicia pointed somewhere, and Venius looked to where she was pointing. At the top of a nearby hill sat an old decrepit church, and in the windows of that church there were glimmering lights of candles. Melicia and Cygnus stood up and then disappeared behind their own personal cloaks, and Venius felt that they were walking towards the church.

Venius wanted to warn them to stay away from the church, but he was suddenly gripped by a sudden wave of fear. His instincts screamed that he needed to stay secret, stimulated by the possibility of getting in a fight with a group of humans. He only followed behind them quietly, watching as the doors to the church opened.

There were several moments of agonizing silence, and Venius felt like they had been in there for an eternity. Then, he heard a shout, a scream, and a crash, and he ran towards the church door as fast as he could. As he entered he saw a group of about 12 humans in the room, 2 of which were holding onto old, outdated laser rifles. Melicia was slumped over forward, her upper left shoulder carbonized jet black and crisp from an obvious hit from one of these rifles. They were old enough models to have enough charge to piece a body all the way through, but were obviously powerful enough to be deadly. Cygnus had bent over to try and heal her and the other human was aiming his rifle at him, about to fire.

The sight of this stirred a great and unquenchable rage in Venius, and his vision began to fill with a red glow. For the first time in his life, his rational mind was completely overwhelmed and he was swallowed up in the emotions of the moment. He charged an energy sword in each paw, leapt forward, and indulged the darker cravings of his subconscious. It was a sick pleasure for him to watch their bodies writhe and burn in agony under his sword, and he had slain nine of them before the yells of his brother stopped him.

"For the love of all things holy Venius, stop!" Cygnus boomed, and ran over to put himself between his brother and the last three humans, who were now cowering on the floor in terror.

In an instant Venius' rational mind leapt back into control, and his swords flickered and faded away. His face was suddenly painted aghast, and he looked down at the three people he had been on the verge of murdering. They were two teenage boys and one teen girl, all three with brown hair and strange blue and green uniforms. One of the boys slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Venius, and after a moment, uncurled and sat up.

Venius turned back and looked back at the corpses he had just made, is blood now like icewater in his veins. Disbelief welled up in his mind, and he felt sick to his stomach. He turned to his brother and spoke in a faltering tone.

"Is Melicia alright?"

"I healed up the wound, but she's still unconscious." Cygnus said.

Venius turned back and looked at the human boy who had sat up. A vile grin was now painted upon his face.

"What happened to your strength? Can't find it within yourself to finish us off?" he said.

Venius couldn't believe what he was hearing. This human had been cowering in fright a few moments before, and now was rebuking him!

"Well, I must thank you for it. Because if you let me and my companions live, then we'll go back to the council and report your murders, and then we'll finally be able to expel that meddlesome Shakara and dismantle her protectorate for your crimes! We may even be able to have the rest of your pitiful family locked away where you belong!"

Venius was shocked at first, but then his mind was filled with an icy steel resolve. He formed another sword and held it up to the belligerent human's neck.

"No, wait! We don't have to kill them! We can just erase their memory!" Cygnus protested.

"Oh, I'm afraid that won't work. You see, we're a pretty tight group, and you won't be able to just explain away the loss of nine of our comrades with some silly memory reprogram. We'd know that something was wrong and eventually come to the conclusion that our memories had been altered. Not to mention that the others who didn't come to this meeting will just as easily realize what happened here."

Venius very gently brushed the blade of his sword against the boy's neck, and he cringed and pulled back as it burned his skin.

"What does your group call itself?" Venius asked.

"The Psi-slayers." The boy replied.

Cygnus grabbed Venius by the shoulders. "Come on brother, there's got to be another way!"

Venius looked into his brother's eyes and saw the fear behind them. But they also pleaded for him to not bloody his hands any more than they already had been. He felt torn inside, and still sick from the killings, but now could find no other way. He turned from his brother and beheaded the boy with a flick of his wrist. The other two humans, who had been crawling away to escape during the conversation, suddenly clutched their heads and fell on their sides screaming as Venius cooked their minds.

Cygnus let go of Venius' shoulder and looked down at the ground in despair. He sighed heavily and walked over to help Melicia some more.

"Now what?" He asked, turning to give Venius a woeful stare. "How do we get out of this?"

"Listen. Father has no reason to suspect that we were the ones responsible for this."

"Don't you mean you were the one responsible?" Cygnus snapped.

"Oh right! If you hadn't decided to come on this foolish jaunt with Mel then none of it would have happened! And you had to be stupid enough to go into the church too!" Venius yelled.

"Oh don't blame your own violence on us! If you hadn't rushed forward and butchered so many of them we could have erased their memory and left as if nothing had ever happened!" Cygnus bellowed.

Cygnus' logic hit a nerve of truth, and Venius felt sick to his stomach again. He lowered his head in shame and stared down at the floor. After a few moments of pause he spoke again, "If we dispose of the bodies properly, we'll never be found out."

"Don't you remember what that kid said? The others in his group will know what happened!" Cygnus replied angrily.

"But if they never find any evidence that a crime was committed here, then the authorities won't be able to charge us or our family." Venius said.

Cygnus sighed. "What must we do?"

"I'll do it. I'm the one who made these corpses, I shall be the one to dispose of them." Venius said, his voice now full of regret.

He lifted the dead ones with his mind, gathered them together into a pile, and began psychically burning them, making sure to do it in midair to keep from leaving telltale scorches on the ground. He burned them until there was nothing left but bones, and then shattered the bones into smaller and smaller bits until there was nothing left but dust. He then gathered the dust up into a ball, and teleported that ball to the bottom of the lake, where it would dissolve and disappear. There wasn't a single trace of anyone or anything left now except for the candles, which still burned on through the night.

**Chapter VI – C2**

The next morning Cygnus slept in late, and when he finally woke it was only with great effort. He felt as if his eyelids weighed 10 pounds each, and the bed seemed to take on a gravitational field of its own. He wearily rubbed his eyes and clambered out from under the sheets, feeling as if he hadn't slept at all. He was haunted by the events of the previous night, and wasn't confident that he could maintain a façade of normality for his father. Since he had broken his antique clock yesterday morning he didn't know how late it had gotten, so he dragged himself out the door and down the stairs at a snail's pace. When he made it to the dining room, he found that his breakfast was still sitting there waiting for him, now cold and unappealing. There was nary a sign of anyone else there, and the house was oddly silent. A solitary note sat on the table next to the bowl of soggy cereal. Cygnus picked it up and read it.

Cygnus,

The family and I have gone to the Pokemon University for the day to visit Asha and Ashley. We won't be back until dark. Dinner is in the fridge if you decide not to fly over and join us. Hope you feel better.

Love,

Dad.

There was a little cartoony doodle of Tanis underneath the signature. Cygnus tossed the note onto the table and collapsed into the chair. He poked at his food for a little while until he decided that he didn't want to eat, and debated on whether to join the visit. He looked out the window and saw contrails of five human ships flying overhead in the azure sky. He watched them until they vanished over the horizon, and descended into his own ruminations.

Last night, Melicia had promised him that they wouldn't run into any humans on that island. She told him that she had visited the place at least 4 times before and that it had always been deserted. It meant that those humans they encountered, the 'Psi-slayers' as they called themselves, must have just set up shop in that old church recently. He wondered who was leading their group, and why they would let a group of teenagers hang around abandoned churches in the ungodly AM hours. He also worried for Venius, who had seemed a completely changed person when they flew home last night. Even with Melicia's comfort and support, he had this cold, stony exterior afterwards that scared Cygnus. Usually Melicia was the one that Venius confided in the most besides father or Shakara, so his coldness to her that night was extremely worrisome. But then again, the whole night had been worrisome at best, and he wondered if he himself had been changed a lot too. He felt this claw of nausea gripping his stomach, and he still felt exhausted enough to go back to bed, which was highly unusual for him. It was the second time that week that he had had difficulty getting up in the morning now, and the thought crossed his mind that something was wrong him. He decided that if his body was telling him he needed sleep, it was best to follow the advice, so he sluggishly climbed back up the stairs and went back to bed.

But despite his exhaustion, Cygnus could not get back to sleep. The light that endlessly poured through his window was blinding to him, and even when he closed his blinds and faced away, it cut through his eyelids and interrupted his rest. Eventually his stomach decided that being empty was not in fact a good thing, and hunger pangs drove him to get up and eat the mush in the cereal bowl downstairs. Though it had lost most of its taste and was lukewarm by then, he still ate it eagerly. He finally looked at a clock and saw that it was almost 3 PM. After doing a double take, he sat up briskly from the table and walked quickly out the door into the backyard.

Cygnus had never slept so late in his entire life, it was as if half of his entire day had been wasted. He was now heading out toward the greenhouses to get started on his chores. He opened the door to the first one and walked down the first row of plants, psychically pulling weeds and tossing them into the garbage as he went. Normally, he hardly ever used his powers to do his chores for him, he liked the exercise and he wanted to follow Venius' example and not use his powers unless he really needed to. Today he needed to, because he had many chores to do before sunset, and he was feeling too sick and tired to do them with his hands.

With the aid of his powers, Cygnus breezed through the weeding in about 15 minutes, and he then jogged back to the house to empty the trashes. He teleported the trash out of all the cans and out into the compactor, making sure to sort out the biodegradable waste and send it to the compost piles in the greenhouses. He then poured bleach into all the toilets and lifted the brushes with his mind to scrub the bowls. After a few minutes of scrubbing, flushing, and rinsing, the toilets were clean. Knickknacks lifted off of their tables and dusting cloths danced over them and the surfaces upon which they had sat. Cans of water were filled and then traveled through the house on their own, pouring water into the pots of every house plant.

Cygnus finished all his chores in a little over an hour, nearly five times quicker than normal. When he finally finished scrubbing the last floor and dusting the last sculpture, he sat back down at the table again to rest. He knew he had some extra time now, so he laid his head down onto the table and closed his eyes. It was bizarre how fickle the sandman could be. Before when Cygnus couldn't get back to sleep in his bed, it was because the light from his window was too bright. Yet sitting at the table, where it was even brighter than in his room, he finally managed to drift off, only involuntarily. He dozed lightly and dreamlessly for a handful of hours, until his mind suddenly drifted awake again. When he opened his eyes and saw that the light of day was now fading away, he sprang up and ran through the living toward the hallway that lead to his room. He ran carelessly however, and the carpet in front of the fireplace slid under his feet, causing him to fall forwards. He reached up and caught ahold of the mantle, but by doing so, he jolted it sufficiently to knock several items over. Felix's Sol Blade, a brass statue of a Hylian Goddess, and Ashley's hand mirror all tumbled down, and Cygnus lunged to try and catch one of them. He successfully caught Ashley's mirror, but the sword and the statue struck the floor loudly.

Cygnus put the mirror back hastily and checked to see if the other two items were undamaged. The sword was fine, but the statue was not solid brass so it had a small dent where it had struck the floor. He nervously put it back where it had been, but turned it slightly so that the dent wasn't visible. When he was satisfied that everything was back in order, he proceeded to walk towards the stairs more calmly this time. But before he could get far, he could see the mirror moving out of the corner of his eyes. He turned and saw it falling again, and he had to really jump to catch it in time. He landed hard on the carpet and it chafed his skin as he ground to a stop with the mirror safe in his hands. He stood again, holding the mirror and looking into it. He idly used his power to recover the rug burns on his legs, and Cyngus suddenly sensed some strange vibes from the mirror. He saw something moving in his left peripheral vision, and when he turned to look he saw Ashley's mother and father standing there in the room with him.

For several seconds, Cygnus stared dumbly at them. He knew that they both had died at least eight years ago, but now they were standing right in front of him, as solid and real as himself. There was even a cute little yellow Pikachu sitting on Ash's shoulder, which was even creepier, since the Pikachu that Ash had owned had died long before he had. When Cygnus finally blinked, the figures instantly vanished, leaving him alone in the room once more.

Cygnus slowly placed the mirror back on its stand and stepped back several paces so he could watch it and the spot where the phantoms had stood at the same time. He stood there like that for several minutes as the sun set. When he finally found the will to move, he ran down the hall to his room, closed the door tightly, and locked it. He calmly sat at his desk and the computer console beeped and hummed to life. He tapped the word processor with his stylus and began recording his experience in his journal. He spent the better part of an hour like this, and when he saved the entry, it was time to start writing some song lyrics for Tamista

Tomorrow was his father's second ever public music concert, and this time he had invited any of the family to participate if they felt inclined. Tamista had volunteered to sing and had written a song of her own, but she had also asked Cygnus to write a song for her as well. He needed to finish it tonight, but now he was so rattled and tired that he wasn't sure he could rattle any inspiration out of that stubborn head of his anymore. He gripped the stylus in his paw and sat in thought for several minutes. He felt the need to finish it before everyone got home, even though the worst that would happen was that Tamista would give him a funny look and tell him to hurry up. They would already know something weird was going on with him from the sheer fact that he had slept through their visit to the Ketchums, he just didn't want it to look any worse than it already did. He began dashing off a few slipshod lines of poetry, but nothing good came of it. His mind was too occupied by the visions he had seen earlier.

Soon darkness filled the house as the sun descended below the mountains, and he became increasingly anxious to finish, knowing that the family would be home at any minute. After 20 minutes of scribbling he finally managed to finish a half decent song about love, and resigned himself that it was the best he could do. He plugged his palm computer into the desk terminal and transferred the document to it, and then laid back in his chair to relax until the family returned. He still felt tired, even though he had slept the whole day, but not enough to drift off. He sat there, boredom encroaching on him, until he decided to watch a little holo-TV. He switched on the little projector next to his desk and flipped through all the different channels, finding nothing really interesting. Humans doing tired soap operas, humans doing hackneyed action movies, and humans in romantic relationships. But he came upon a news broadcast that caught his attention right away, there were pictures of the humans from last night on the screen, with the letters 'Missing' glowing red beneath them,

"…They were each brilliant students at Lakeside Pokemon Institute and were members of different activist and extracurricular groups at the school. Their parents reported them missing this morning, since they had not returned from an overnight camping trip in the mountains the night before."

Cygnus turned off the TV and sat in silence again for several minutes, now swimming in another lake of mixed emotions. He was now quite convinced that these humans hadn't been of the most scrupulous variety after seeing how their parents had lied to the authorities, but he still felt horrendous about their death. He also felt incredibly nervous about being caught now too. Undoubtedly there were investigators already on the job, and a nagging voice in his head told him that he was going to be found out soon. His rational mind knew that the actual likelihood of being caught was very low now thanks to the misinformation the parents had fed to the police, but that little voice wouldn't be quelled by logic. It ate at him now that he was awake enough to be rational, and he wondered how long it would keep chewing at him.

"Hey, we're almost home. What have you been up to all day?" Tanis' psychic voice asked in Cygnus' head.

Cygnus jumped a little in surprise, and spoke, "I've been feeling sick. I did my chores, but I spent most of the time in bed. How much longer until you return?"

"We're about to land on the lawn." Tanis replied.

Cygnus stood from his chair and prepared to walk down the stairs to greet the family, but he suddenly felt a massive wave of stomach pain flare up through his abdomen. He staggered and stepped backwards to grab ahold of his chair, and stumbled to his knees in front of his bed. It felt like his intestines were dancing the can-can inside of him, and the urgent need to vomit was overwhelming. He tried to resist it and failed, and the ensuing mess that spilled over his carpet was full of blood. He had time to stare at it in terror for a few moments before blacking out completely.

A/N: Some kind of terrible virus has just hit Cygnus, and soon it may hit the rest of his family as well. Could there be some kind of link between this virus and the murders from the night before? And will anyone discover the truth about that night? Only time will tell. Christmas break is coming up for me fast, so it shouldn't be too long of a wait!


	5. Part I: Brotherhood : Chunk 4

**The Four Mirrors**  
Sequel to 'Legacies'  
By MMM/AJ

_This third and final installation of the series is dedicated to Katie. My biggest fan, my best supporter/helper, and my closest friend._

**A/N:** This one took awhile mainly because a vicious writer's block attacked my on the very last page, and I just couldn't get anything down to finish it off for weeks. Classwork only compounded this problem. But here it is at long last, to ease that nasty cliffhanger from the last chunk. Read and enjoy!

**Chapter VII – OII**

The med-bay of Tanis' lab had an atmosphere of extreme tension and terror that day as Opulous stood amongst his family in front of a console. Tanis was simply touching the holographic panel and psychically communicating with the machine with a silent, stony expression, while the rest of the family stood alongside and behind him to watch. They were staring through a large energy force field at Venius, Cygnus, and Melicia, who were now in total isolation quarantine. Cygnus was lying unconscious upon a steel table hooked up to machinery, with dried crusts of blood on his face from the bleeding through his eyes, nose and mouth that had occurred less than an hour ago. Melicia was awake and huddled on her table, silently weeping and hugging onto a blanket while the machine scanned her. Venius was sitting up straight on his table, his expression just as stoic and empty as his father's as the wires dangled off of him like hair. Satoria waved at him from the other side of the force field, and all he could do was to summon up a weak smile in return.

"Have you found anything yet?" Shakara asked.

"I've isolated the virus in their bloodstream and started analyzing it. Right now all I know is that it's some kind of hemorrhagic fever, and that it only spreads through contact with bodily fluids. Cygnus is stable and Melicia and Venius seem to be resisting it so far, but until I can finish scanning the virus's genetic code, I won't be in complete control of their conditions." Tanis said quietly.

"I'm extremely nervous about this, dad. Are you absolutely sure none of the rest of us are infected? We've been exposed to Melicia all day today during our trip to the University, and Cygnus was all over the house while we were gone!" Nolus said.

"I'm sure. The virus cannot survive in air, and it doesn't live long on open surfaces. I already scanned us all, and only Venius contracted it when he carried Cygnus down here and came into contact with his blood." Tanis said.

"Are we going to die?" Melicia asked weakly, looking up at them from her crying.

"Of course not sweetie! As soon as I finish analyzing the virus's DNA, I can design a whole slew of specific treatments that will target the virus with 100 accuracy! You'll all be well again in at least a day or two!" Tanis replied.

Melicia's woeful expression didn't change, and she lowered her head between her arms and continued to cry. Venius' cold expression didn't change either, and Tanis frowned and continued working. For a few moments, Shakara stood silent and watched while grinding her teeth, until finally she had had enough.

"That's it. I'm going in there." Shakara said, and raised a shield around herself. The shield shunted her entry through the forcefield while keeping the seal airtight as she walked though, and when she was clear, it dropped and she walked over to put her arms around Melicia.

"Mom! What do you think you're doing? What if it mutates and becomes airborne? What if Melicia starts to bleed and it gets on you! You'll be exposed!" Tamista protested, fear in her voice.

"Shh, she knows what she's doing." Tanis said.

Melicia looked up at her mother with a great sadness in her eyes. "Mom, you didn't have to. I don't want you to die too."

"Hey, listen. Do you think I would let you suffer through this alone? What kind of mother would I be? Besides, I trust Tanis' ability and intelligence with my life. I walked in here without hesitation because I know that he can stop this virus." Shakara replied.

The fear wasn't completely banished from Melicia's face, but she did look considerably better. She gripped her mother in a tight bear hug and held it for maximal comfort.

"How long do we need to be stuck in here?" Venius asked, suddenly breaking his silence.

"To be safe, at least a week. Though it will be easy to treat you in a day or two, we need to make sure to take every precaution to ensure it doesn't spread to the rest of us." Tanis said.

Venius nodded quietly and stood from the table to begin pacing. Tanis continued concentrating on the control panel and Opulous stood next to him observing. For a couple minutes all was silent except for the soft sniffling of Melicia as she clung to her mother.

"This is very disturbing…" Tanis suddenly said.

Opulous leaned in closer to look at the data scrolling on the readout. It was moving too fast for him to interpret thoroughly.

"This isn't a natural virus I'm afraid, this is a pre-designed, manmade virus. The lack of introns, the synthetic promoter sites, and unusual sequences in its DNA make it obvious." Tanis said gravely.

"Good lord." Opulous whispered.

"Worse yet, it's one that has been engineered to only infect our species. Somebody's trying to kill us." Tanis added.

Everybody in the room exchanged nervous glances, and Venius halted cold in his pacing.

"But who would want to kill us?" Opulous asked.

"We can only guess…" Venius interjected nervously.

"Mom, Tanis…I have a confession to make." Melicia said, finally letting go of her mother.

Venius turned and gave Melicia a glare that would melt stone to magma, but said nothing. Opulous noticed it and frowned, wondering what kind of illicit secret was about to be spilled forth. Melicia struggled with her words for a moment before continuing.

"Last night…Cygnus and I snuck out." She said with a terrible stagger in her voice. She paused again as if trying to think about how to say it.

"Where did you go?" Shakara asked, not appearing angry in the least.

"A little abandoned island in the middle of a lake. There weren't supposed to be any humans there, but there were. And we got into a fight with them." Melicia replied.

Venius returned to his pacing, now even more nervous looking than before. Opulous could see that he was starting to sweat. He still didn't say a word.

"Cygnus and I ran into a group of them, and one of them shot us both with these darts. Another one shot me with a laser, and then I don't remember much, but Cygnus told me that Venius came in and saved me." Melicia finished.

"The darts must have been what delivered the virus." Tanis said, nodding.

"Is this true, Venius?" Shakara asked, turning to look at him.

Venius just nodded without speaking, while continuing his pacing.

"And what happened then?" Shakara asked.

"I healed Melicia's burns and the three of us fled before they could fire again." Venius said, and stared at Melicia some more.

"That's what Cygnus told me had happened." Melicia said.

Shakara looked at Tanis and nodded. "I understand." She said.

"You're not angry at me?" Melicia asked.

"No, not at all. I just want you to rest and get better. That's all that's important right now." Shakara said comfortingly.

"Thanks mom." Melicia said, finally now looking at peace.

"Venius, I'm going to put you into a psychic sleep now." Tanis suddenly said, urgency in his tone.

"Wait, why?" Venius interrupted.

"Because, in a few seconds, you're going to be doubled over in agony from hemorrhages that are growing in your body. I need to put you into stasis like Cygnus to stop them." Tanis said matter-of-factly.

Venius' cold expression was finally shattered, replaced by a look of fear. He walked back towards his table to lie down so he could go back to sleep, but he was interrupted mid-stride by a sudden coughing fit. He hunched over and hacked like an asthmatic old man, and blood spattered all over the floor from his coughing. Tanis put him out at the moment, and the coughing reluctantly stopped. He psychically lifted Venius up onto the table, and Opulous could see that blood had begun to seep out of his eyes and nose now as well. It was a terrifying sight indeed, and Melicia and Shakara both looked away in horror. The blood ran down his cheeks from his eyes like morbid tears.

Tanis concentrated on the controls like a stone statue for several moments, and didn't look away until Venius' medical readouts stopped flashing red. He sighed in relief and said "He's stable."

"So what now? Why am I the last one left awake?" Melicia asked.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out now." Tanis said. "I'm almost finished scanning the virus' genetic code, but I won't know for sure until I'm done. My theory is that when the designer created this virus, he wanted to make sure it only had a very narrow infection range so that it wouldn't infect humans or other Pokemon, and he might have been too specific. The protein receptors on the coat of this virus don't seem to stick to your cells very well, making it difficult for them to infect you. I think the answer might lie in the different bloodlines of our family. It readily infects and spreads through my two sons, but has difficulty affecting, which leads me to suspect that perhaps the designer only had the genetic data of my father or I, and so couldn't optimize it to infect you or your sisters as effectively. Though we are all direct descendents of Mewtwo, the scientists who created Ares modified him to the point where it was as if he was from a completely different family. He was a genetic stranger, in other words, and since you and your mother carry his genes, then that explains why the virus would have a hard time affecting you. You're not completely immune because of the fact that the virus can target anyone of our species, but it's not likely that your symptoms will become too severe. You may not even have to be put into stasis." Tanis said.

Melicia sighed, now looking relieved again.

"Tamista, I need you to do a big favor for me." Tanis said without turning away from the controls.

"Name it." Tamista said eagerly. "Whatever it is, I know that you need to concentrate on curing everyone, so I'll take care of the whole house for you while you work."

"I need you to go to Cygnus's room and remove the bloodstained carpet. Raise an airtight shield around yourself to protect yourself from the virus, psychically rip all the bloody carpet out, take it outside, and burn it without touching it. Be sure to take it far away from the house to burn it, just to be safe. After you finish that, I'll need you to pour some bleach all over the floor that was underneath the carpet, just in case any blood seeped through. And just to be safe, don't touch anything in Cygnus' room. Understand that I picked you over my sons since you are less susceptible to the virus." Tanis said.

"Absolutely. Right away." Tamista said. She looked a little scared, but also had an expression of stubborn bravery in the face of adversity. She walked off with an exaggerated stride.

"I'm going to help her." Satoria said, and walked off to follow.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Nolus asked.

"Bring me a tall cold glass of ice water. I'm going to be down here for a long time." Tanis said.

"You got it." Nolus said, and walked out quickly as well.

Now it was just Opulous and Tanis outside of the containment bubble. Tanis stood silently and continued his work, and Opulous continued to watch him. Since she had succeeded in calming Melicia down, Shakara let go of the hug and stood. She walked over and hooked herself up to the monitoring system as well, and another set of vitals appeared on the screens in front of Tanis. She dragged a chair out of the corner, sat down next to Melicia, and struck up a conversation with her in hopes of helping distract her from their current situation. The blood on Venius' face began to dry and form a crust. The heartbeat readouts on Tanis' screens beeped softly, and the holographic clock flickered the minutes away. The atmosphere in the room now seemed to begin to calm. Shakara made a joke, Melicia laughed, and Tanis grinned a bit. It felt like the situation was improving dramatically, until the scan of the virus' DNA was finally complete. Tanis scowled deeply and lifted his hand from the screen for a moment.

"Look at this." Tanis said, gesturing for Opulous to look at the screen displaying genetic data. It had stopped at the end of the DNA strand, and displayed a sequence of bases that spelled 'TTAACCGGCCAATT'.

"What does it mean?" Opulous asked.

"That's a signature left by the author of the virus' code. It's commonly used to identify artificial gene sequences created by a student or teacher at the Genetech Branch of the Pokemon University. It means that the designer is an insider in the very same University where Ashley teaches. Whether he or she is a professor or student I don't know, but it's still a troubling thought."

"Either they don't think we're capable of analyzing the virus' coding, or they're trying to taunt us into doing something stupid against the University." Opulous said.

Tanis nodded. "They won't get the satisfaction of seeing us retaliate though. I'll have to take Shakara's place at the Protectorate Meeting this week while she's in quarantine, and I can tell them what happened then. We'll let the University deal with it themselves."

Tanis turned from Venius to speak to Melicia. "Hey, good news! I'm getting started on designing those treatments already! If I'm fast enough, I may be able to stop the virus before you even get the rash!"

"See, what did I tell you?" Shakara said, and patted Melicia on the back heartily. "Your uncle's more of a genius than you thought isn't he?"

**Interlude**

For the most part, it was a dreamless sleep for Cygnus. He had slipped into an unconscious state of near nonexistence after blacking out in his room, and thankfully did not have to suffer through his sickness awake. It was peaceful in that state of emptiness, and he slept soundly without any perception of time or the outside world.

But slowly, a dream began to form in Cygnus' mind. He could suddenly feel himself lying on a table somewhere, and his vision began to come back. He tried to sit up, but there was a resistance like he had been glued to it. He blinked his eyes and opened them wide, and saw that he was in some kind of glowing plane of light. He turned his head to look around, and saw bright white expanses surrounding him and stretching into infinity.

Cygnus was struck with fear. Had the sickness taken his life? Was this the afterlife? He didn't want to die, there was still a lot left in life that he had wanted to do, and he felt tears welling up at the prospect of never seeing his father of the rest of the family ever again. He couldn't believe that he had been killed by some kind of sickness like this either, it wasn't the death that he had hoped for. He looked around at the emptiness around him to see if there was anyone there with him to break this new incredible feeling of loneliness, but there was no-one visible, yet. He looked to his left, to his right, and then to his left again, and someone had appeared there in the second when he had looked away. He focused his eyes and looked harder.

Walking towards him was the spitting image of his grandfather, Mewtwo, hand in hand with a short, green haired little human girl. He wanted to get up to greet them, but he was still held to the table by the mysterious force, so all he could do was lay there and stare in awe as they approached him. Cygnus could see that they were both bathed in a gentle blue glow as they got close, almost like spirits of some kind. But they weren't ethereal in the least.

Mewtwo stopped at the side of Cygnus' table and looked down at him with a smile. The girl was just tall enough to peek up over the edge of the table. Mewtwo laid his paw on Cygnus' and it felt warm and solid just like any living beings'. The glow the radiated from him was a calming aura.

"Don't worry, everything is going to be alright." Mewtwo said to him, his voice echoing slightly.

Cygnus couldn't say anything in reply, he just stared into his grandfather's eyes. They were a much deeper purple than he had imagined. He felt Mewtwo let go of his hand, and then the vision was gone. In an instant he awoke into the real world and burst upright on the table in his father's lab.

"Are you alright?" Shakara suddenly asked, running over to his side.

Cygnus paused for a moment to take in his surroundings, and then turned back to Shakara and spoke, "Everything is going to be alright."

**Chapter VIII – NII**

"Knight to C5." Nolus said casually, with an evil grin on his face.

Across the quarantine bubble, a black colored chess piece moved across the board at Nolus' command, and the white colored bishop piece that had been in C5 vanished and reappeared in the box of taken pieces. Shakara frowned at her dwindling forces, and fidgeted with one of the pawns that she had lost at the beginning of the game. She stared listlessly at the little starship shaped pieces on the board, concocting a new strategy. Nolus had exposed his queen to attack, and she wanted to think of a way to take it without losing her other bishop, but it would be a stretch.

Nolus however, was suppressing a laugh. He had exposed his queen on purpose to lay a trap. The pieces were laid out in a manner so that the only way that Shakara could take his queen safely would also expose her own queen to attack. He considered a queen for a queen to be a fair exchange, and now it was up to Shakara to agree with him.

"So, how do you think Tanis is doing in my place at the Protectorate meeting?" Shakara asked casually.

"Oh he knows what he's doing. He might not be as strict as you, but he won't let them walk all over him either." Nolus replied. "There's definitely going to be a stir when he brings the subject of the virus up though."

Shakara twitched her tail back and forth, twisting the little stone pawn in her paws endlessly. "I still can't help but admire the craftsmanship in this chess set he sculpted."

Nolus smiled, knowing that Shakara was stalling for time. But he let her stall anyway. "I can remember when he made it last year. I was pretty impressed when he told me that he had modeled it after visions he saw in the Time Medallion."

The black side's king was a sculpted figurine of Darkest, and the white side's king was Lightest. The pawns were Centurions and Light Soldiers, and the other power pieces were different classes of starships from their respective sides. They were all finely polished to a glimmering shine and stood upon an equally polished grid of black and white marble squares.

"Rook to F4." Shakara said suddenly, and the little white piece shaped like a frigate-class starship moved in and took Nolus' other knight.

Melicia, who was sitting on her table nearby, put down her book and walked over to examine the game's progress. "You two are still going at it?"

"You can't rush games like this, you know." Shakara said, now sporting her own evil grin.

Nolus frowned and tried to think of what to do next, and Melicia bent over to take a close look at the layout of the armies. She frowned. "God this game is confusing. Give me a round of cards any day." She said, and walked back towards the table to continue reading.

"Maybe later, after I'm finished wiping out Nolus here." Shakara said merrily.

Nolus rubbed his chin, and then saw an opening and decided to go for it.

"Pawn to-" he said, and was cut off by the sound of Cygnus gasping loudly.

Nolus turned to see that Cygnus had sat up on his table with a shocked look on his face. Shakara immediately stood and rushed over to help him.

"Are you alright?" She asked urgently.

Cygnus looked around with a bewildered expression before replying, "Everything is going to be alright."

Melicia stood up and walked over to see him as well, and Nolus wondered what he could do. Opulous, who was sitting in front of the monitoring screens, had a surprised look on his face. He was tapping the holographic buttons at a furious pace now.

"What happened?" Melicia asked.

"I don't really know…where am I?" Cygnus asked.

"You're in quarantine down here in the med bay of your father's lab." Shakara said.

"How long have I been out?" Cygnus asked.

"Two days." Shakara said.

Cygnus' expression looked like someone had told him that he had slept through the apocalypse. He reached up and felt the crusts of dried blood that had formed on his face.

"This is incredible!" Opulous interjected. Everyone turned to look at him expectantly. "There are no more viruses left in your system! They've just…vanished!"

"You're kidding, right?" Shakara asked in disbelief.

"I've ran five different bioscan confirmations, he's clean." Opulous said.

"What about Venius?" Melicia asked. "What about me?"

Opulous paused while the machine ran more biofilter scans. "No, you're all still infected, but you yourself are almost completely recovered Melicia. Venius is still tight in its grip though."

"What virus?" Cygnus asked, still looking bewildered.

"Do you remember the night we went out to the abandoned island?" Melicia asked.

"Shhh!" Cygnus said, now shocked and scared.

"No it's alright, I already _told_ them about what happened." Melicia said with extra meaning and emphasis laden on the word 'told'.

Cygnus looked confused yet again, but then nodded. "Yeah, I remember."

"Well, do you remember when we first walked in there, before Venius came to rescue us, and the humans shot us with darts?" Melicia continued. "Those darts were hypodermic, and they were filled with samples of a hemorrhagic virus. You didn't show symptoms until Wednesday night when we found you passed out. Venius carried you down here to quarantine and got infected, and Shakara voluntarily came into the quarantine bubble to help calm me down. Everyone else managed to avoid infection."

Cygnus began rubbing the blood crust off of his face. "A hemorrhagic virus? I guess that explains the blood. But aren't viruses like that fatal 97 of the time?"

"If untreated, yes. But Tanis put you into stasis to slow the bleeding to a controllable level, and has been giving us all nanite treatments every few hours. So far it has worked well on everyone except Venius."

Cygnus slowly climbed to his legs and stood off of the table. He wobbled a bit at first, but soon got used to his legs again. Nolus was still staring in wonderment. "You know, I could really go for a huge plate of beans and rice right now, I'm absolutely famished!"

"I'll go tell Tamista to prepare an extra plate, now that you're awake." Satoria said, and ran off.

"Say, where is dad anyway?" Cygnus asked, scanning the room briefly with his eyes.

"He's taking my place at the Protectorate meeting right this moment. He should be back in a few minutes actually." Shakara said.

Cygnus walked around inside the quarantine bubble and stretched his arms and legs. He looked down, saw the chess board, and smiled. "Who's playing?"

"I was just turning the tables against Nolus actually. We're going to play cards after I'm done cleaning him out." Shakara laughed.

Cygnus studied the board for a few moments, and then grinned. "Take your knight from C5 to D7 and you'll have her checkmated in three more rounds." He said psychically to Nolus.

Nolus grinned, and was about to make the move when the outer door to the lab opened behind him. Spattering sounds from the heavy rain drifted in through the open door, and Nolus turned to see that Tanis had returned from the meeting. He was completely soaked from the rain and had a pale look about him like he had been extremely frightened or shocked recently.

"Hey dad, what's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Nolus said.

"I'll tell you in a minute, how is Cygnus awake?" Tanis asked, walking towards the console.

Opulous stood aside from the console and spoke, "We don't know. He just awoke no less than 5 minutes ago, and when I scanned him his system was clean. Not a single virus."

Tanis examined the readouts for a few moments. "This is…incredible! Not only is it far too early for the nanites to have finished clearing out his system, but he shouldn't have been able to wake so quickly. One does not simply sit up and walk around after being put in a class three stasis!"

Cygnus had a conflicted look on his face, as if he were stumbling through an inner debate. He turned to face them, almost as if he were about to say something, but remained silent. He frowned and walked back to sit back down on his table. "Are you going to tell us how the Protectorate meeting went?"

Tanis was silent for several moments at the console, only speaking after finishing another set of scans. "It wasn't pretty. I told them about the virus, but none of them were willing to start an investigation. Though no-one said it, I could tell that they didn't even believe it when I told them."

"Sounds familiar." Shakara grumbled. "You didn't just let them turn a blind eye to it, did you?"

"I kept pushing it, but Artha insisted that it was the business of the University and not of the Protectorate. She then changed the subject on me before I could continue, and the rest of the councilors followed suit. It was incredibly frustrating, I've never seen anyone so adept at sidestepping." Tanis said.

Shakara shook her head and sighed in dismay. "I guess I can bring it up in next week's meeting. What other matters did they bring up?"

"A lot of bureaucratic nonsense. The only other issue of any real consequence was an attempt to repeal some of your military starship limitation sanctions." Tanis said.

"What?!" Shakara growled angrily.

"I convinced them to table the issue until next week when you could be there, but it looked like the majority favored repealment."

"Humph! They tried to pass legislation that they knew I'd never allow while I was absent! Of all the cowardly, conniving things to do! It makes me so angry!" Shakara fumed. "You can wager I'll have some choice words for them next week!"

Shakara stood up from the floor and began pacing around inside the quarantine bubble. Nolus and the others held their tongues nervously, intimidated by Shakara's rage. She had a glint of fire in her eyes as she paced rings around the tables, and her tail was raised high over her head as if she were ready to impale someone with her tail blade.

"I'm sorry, I should have been more stern with them." Tanis said apologetically.

"Oh no, it's not your fault. I don't blame you at all." Shakara said tensely, not even looking up at him as she paced. "I should have expected them to try to take advantage of my absence in fact. But it won't happen again."

Tanis stood bewildered for a few more seconds before turning toward the controls again to continue scanning Cygnus. Nolus watched Shakara continue to pace for several more minutes before resigning their chess game as kaput and stood to stretch his limbs.

"Hold it there Nolus, we're not through yet." Shakara said, turning to walk back over to the game. "It's your move."

Nolus blinked and then sat back down. " Pawn to D7. Check." he said.

Shakara stared down in disbelief as the pawn stepped up in range of attacking her king. She had been so worried about his queen and bishops that she had ignored the pawns marching into her territory!

"So much for putting me in my place eh?" Nolus said, chuckling merrily.

Shakara sighed and knocked her own king down to signify surrender. The white marble carving of Lightest clacked lifelessly onto the board.

A/N: The virus ordeal is near an end now, only Venius remains under its grip. I expect the whole thing to be resolved by next chunk, and a new mini-arc of the plot will be brought to life. College is still marching on at a swift pace, so don't expect it too soon, but since I just recently broke a nasty writer's block, it may not be months of wait this time. Until then!


	6. Part I: Brotherhood : Chunk 5

**The Four Mirrors**  
Sequel to 'Legacies'  
By MMM/AJ

_This third and final installation of the series is dedicated to Katie. My biggest fan, my best supporter/helper, and my closest friend._

**A/N:** When I got started writing initially on this chunk, I didn't notice that I had swapped the Cygnus and Venius chapters around. But the time I did notice, I was almost completely done writing. Upon further inspection, I found that it works better for this chunk; at least as plot progression goes, so I decided to let the Cygnus chapter come first after all. This won't necessarily reflect on future chunks though. Anyway, enjoy this beefy 15 pager!

**Chapter IX – CIII**

It was a glorious feeling for Cygnus, to finally be free from that accursed quarantine bubble. The sun's warming rays were harsh on his eyes at first when he walked up the stairs out of the underground medlab bunker, but it didn't take long for him to adjust. His facial expression reflected the ecstasy of finally feeling the long leaves of grass and soft earth under his feet again, and a cool breeze swept across the lawn to caress his skin. The sky was a beautiful azure plain, empty except for a few wispy contrails left by three human ships flying above them high in the atmosphere. He couldn't wait to go on another jog, to spend a few hours lazily sunbathing, and to find the little stream that flows north of the house to wade in. The new nanomachines that his father had designed had worked flawlessly, and now that everyone had been certified virus free, they had been released back out into the beautiful, wide open world once more. He felt overwhelmed with things that he wanted to do now that he was free of the bubble, but there wasn't enough time for it. The others had already teleported straight to the house and were packing their things, for a trip was planned for this day. Tanis was going to host a rave today, his second one ever. Technically, it was scheduled to happen last week, but they could hardly make it after the virus reared its ugly head. After spending as much time as he could afford enjoying the sun, Cygnus jogged back towards the house to meet up with the others.

Tamista was sitting in the hammock and Melicia was leaning on the side of the wall, the rest were still inside.

"Well, what did you think of the song?" Cygnus asked, walking up the steps onto the porch and grinning cheerfully at Tamista.

"Well, I had to delete and re-write a few lines, but mostly it was pretty good!" Tamista replied. "I hope you don't mind that I revised it."

"Considering the fact that I was nearly half dead from the virus when I wrote it, I'd say it turned out pretty well don't you think?" Cygnus said, laughing. "Do you feel ready to get up there and sing in front of the humans?"

"I think so. I've never been in front of a large group of people before, but it doesn't sound too hard. If these humans are like Ashley and Asha then it shouldn't be too scary." Tamista said. "Besides, Tanis said that most of them are his fans, so I shouldn't have to worry about them not accepting me."

The front door opened and Tanis appeared, followed by Shakara, Nolus, and Satoria. Tanis was carrying a large plastic carrying-case, and Nolus had painted himself with large stripes of neon lime green. Satoria was carrying a clear plastic case filled with jars of different colors of the same neon body paint.

"Whoa, body paint? Why didn't I think of that?" Tamista said, pointing and giggling at Nolus' new stripes, which were much brighter than the natural ones in his fur.

Nolus grinned. "If we're going to dance and have a laser light show, I'm going to make sure we do it right! Here, there's plenty of paint for everyone."

Satoria handed the box of paints to Tamista, and Melicia crowded in close to grab a bottle as well. Cygnus wasn't sure how comfortable he was with smearing paint on himself, but he trusted his brother wasn't using the permanent kind.

"Come on guys, you can paint yourselves on the flight. Let's get moving." Tanis said.

"Venius and Opulous aren't coming?" Cygnus asked.

"No, Opulous said he'd rather study, and Venius said he didn't want to be cramped up with that many humans in such a small building." Tanis said. "It makes me sad that they're not interested in my music, but it is a common pitfall for fathers to try to force their sons to be like them when they obviously don't want to."

Tanis jumped up into the air and flew off, and the rest of them followed in kind, and Cygnus decided that he would apply a little bit of paint, just for fun. He used orange and yellow paint to make flame designs on his back and shoulders, like decals that some humans like to put on their hover cars.

"The best thing about this paint is that if you concentrate a tiny bit of psychic energy on it, you can make it glow!" Nolus said enthusiastically. He winked his eye and all the stripes he had painted on himself shimmered a brilliant, electric green. Then they began to blink, first randomly and then in a fluid sequence up and down his body, making him look like a phosphorescent fish of the deep.

"Whoa, that's so neat! Let me try!" Melicia laughed in delight. She squinted her eyes closed and the rainbow spots she had painted on herself glowed blindingly bright.

"Ech, didn't I say you only needed a little bit of energy!" Nolus groaned, covering his eyes.

"Oops, sorry!" She said, quenching the lights quickly. "I didn't mean to blind you!"

"Just be careful next time alright?" Nolus said. If we do that at the party then everybody will fall over and people will get trampled!"

Cygnus chuckled and put a big orange paw print on Melicia's shoulder with the paint, and then made it crackle and flow like it was on fire.

"Hey, you fink!" Melicia laughed, and threw a glob of purple paint at him. He dipped to dodge it and was about to throw another glob of orange at her when Nolus interrupted.

"Don't waste that paint you guys, it took me two hours to mix that batch properly! Next person to throw any gets to make the next batch!"

Cygnus held back another laugh and stuck out his tongue and made googly-eyes at Melicia.

"You two do know that a little more maturity is going to be required when we get there, right?" Tanis said, looking back at them with an exasperated look on his face.

"I had nothing to do with this!" Tamista quickly interjected.

"Yes dad, of course. We're just having a little fun is all." Cygnus said.

"Just making sure." Tanis said. He exchanged a look with Shakara and both shook their heads and sighed.

The flight to New Saffron City was a bit longer than usual since Shakara had elected not to call down one her ships to carry them. Though their psychic flight was still faster than any ground-bound hovering vehicle, they still couldn't go as fast as a shuttlecraft without spending much larger quantities of their psychic energy. Since Tanis wanted to conserve that energy for use with special effects at the rave, and they had to fly cross country from Johto to Kanto, it was at least an hour's flight. During this time, those who had opted to paint themselves finished and perfected their designs, and choreographed the light shows that they wanted to create with the paints. Tamista and Shakara both took turns practicing singing for the vocal songs, each helping critique the others' performance for mutual improvement, and of course they spent a lot of time admiring the natural beauty of the lands that sped by below them. The mountains that separated Kanto and Johto were particularly striking as the sun left its apex behind and began casting slanted shadows across them at an angle. Once more, Cygnus found himself wishing that he could have time to spend down there, climbing and exploring. The others weren't talking or doing anything particularly interesting, so he was left to contemplating how enjoyable it would be to go on a camping and hiking trip out in this wilderness. He wondered what kind of other wild Pokemon thrived in these environments.

They soon left the mountains behind and passed into Kanto's airspace, and the evidence of the vast human population here was immediately evident. Hundreds of shining domes glistened in the sunlight below them, each one a high-yield farming center designed with sunlight regulating glass panels and multiple tiers of greenery fed by automated water and nutrient distribution systems. Complex rotating mirror systems had been built inside to allow sunlight to be allocated to large stacks of hydroponically grown plants, creating an extremely efficient system of growing many more yields of crops in much smaller areas of land. There were hundreds of these domes across the vast open spaces of Kanto, many varying to less than an acre to several hundred acres in size. Dispersed between them were processing and storage buildings, distribution centers with pads for hauler ships to land on, and a scant few apartment complexes to house the small number of people required to operate them. The whole system was designed to efficiently feed an extremely large number of people in a small area while producing practically no contaminants. All of this was necessary to feed the dramatically larger population here in Kanto, which made Johto seem practically abandoned in comparison.

Kanto was far from being wildlife free however. Large spaces of land were used as wild Pokemon preserves, especially in areas where conditions were less than optimal for agriculture, like on the borders of the mountains where the sunlight was blocked at certain angles in the evening. But these preserves were still nothing compared to the vast tracts of wilderness that still remained in Johto. It was never more apparent to Cygnus than now that the Johto Province was governed by preservationists, and he was glad that his father had chosen to live in a province like it. Apparently, there was nowhere left in all the reaches of Kanto that one could escape the effects of human presence.

Beyond several more expanses of farmland and forest, they finally caught sight of the city limits of New Saffron. The massive central tower that housed the city's spaceport gouged high up into the sky, and Cygnus could see ships moving to and from the various branching docks of the tower far off in the distance. The tower had been originally built by Ares; he had rebuilt about 60 of this city after the great nuclear catastrophe that had wiped it out during his initial attacks on human society. He had known that the area was in a prime location to be a major production and distribution center of his empire, so he cleared out the radiation there and used human slaves as labor to build a new city, complete with a spaceport to send building materials up to his space stations for the purpose of constructing more warships. After his fall, the humans in the city took it as their own, and have been progressively expanding it in the years since then. It was now once more the largest city in Kanto, having almost double the population of nearby New Celadon City, and it showed no signs of slowing its growth.

"So where is the place anyway?" Cygnus asked, staring down at the thousands of indistinguishable generic steel and glass constructions.

"On the opposite side of the city in an old underground holoball dome at the edge of the city. I know exactly where it is, so just worry about following me." Tanis replied.

Cygnus watched the city below as they flew, now fascinated with how beautiful it was in its own way. The architecture in the outer rim areas of the city prominently featured polished glass in artistically curved domes and towers. The inner regions of the city, which had been built by Ares, used polished steel at a much greater ratio to the glass, and the buildings were more ornately decorated with sharp looking spines and spires. There was evidence in many places that these buildings had been initially stained a deep metallic red as a symbol of allegiance to him, but had been bleached off long ago. They neared the central tower now, and Cygnus could make out more of its details. It was wider at the base and grew narrower the higher it went. The base at the very bottom was extremely wide, and the slope of the narrowing was a smooth parabolic curve. Halfway up the tower, 4 arms branched out, and each of these arms was covered with smaller ones where ships could dock. There was a massive cargo ship docked at the end of the primary arm nearest to them, and Cygnus could see the huge plates of worn titanium armor. He could tell that it had used to be one of Ares' ships, there were large rough spots where the decorative spines had been ground down, and he could barely make out patches of old, faded red paint on the armor plates. It was totally inactive except for the gentle blue glow of the hover drives on the bottom, which were supporting its weight against gravity.

Cygnus heard a sudden whooshing noise behind them and turned to see a ship approaching them rapidly. It was a heavy gunship covered with menacing energy weapon turrets, all of which were trained upon them, making Cygnus feel instinctively nervous. It pulled up alongside them and matched their speed. A small scanner beam flashed from it and analyzed them in a split second, and a human voice blared over its loudspeaker.

"State your purpose here, Councils." The voice demanded.

Tanis frowned and psychically replied so that only the humans could hear him. Cygnus wondered what he had said, but he knew not to try and psychically intrude to find out. The ship flew alongside them silently, as if pondering Tanis' response, and then accelerated and dove down past them. The heat from its engines washed over him uncomfortably, and the energy they emitted made his skin tingle and his fur stand up on end. The paint began to glow a little bit in response to it as well. He ran his paws along it all in annoyance, trying to get it to stop.

By now they had put the spaceport tower behind them, and the outer limits of the other side of the city were visible. He could see that there was a small slummy sector along the entire Eastern border of the city, complete with run-down buildings and even a small shroud of air pollution. He didn't feel eager about going to such an unseemly place, but his father was flying at an angle straight toward it, so he decided to swallow these feelings and trust his father. The ground swelled upwards at them as they rapidly dropped altitude, and Cygnus could now make out the holoball court in question. It was a squat and dirty little concrete dome filled with cracks and surrounded by littered garbage. There was a group of about 50 humans crowding around the front entrance, where a pair of burly human men stood guard, preventing entry. More hover cars were arriving sporadically and setting down in the dusty lot next to the dome, producing more humans who walked over to join the throng. Cygnus sensed that Tanis had suddenly raised a cloaking field around them as they entered the range of the humans' vision.

"Is this the place?" Nolus muttered in surprise. "What a junk heap! Why host your rave in such a craphole dad?"

"Because the city council wouldn't allow us to host it anywhere else." Tanis said, slight annoyance evident in his tone. "They said it was for security reasons."

"The usual BS." Shakara added.

They gently touched down behind the dome in front of a plain steel door. The door was completely smooth with absolutely no visible means to open or even grip it. A single, featureless steel box was bolted to the wall next to it. Tanis laid his paw on this box, and it emitted a soft beep. The door clicked and tilted ajar, Tanis had psychically opened it by communicating with the machine that controlled the locking mechanism. There was a short hallway beyond, with only a janitorial closet and a utility closet before opening into a small booth. Their procession went straight to the booth, which featured a set of large one-way glass windows overlooking the holoball court below. A small staircase descended in a spiral, leading to the door to the court itself. Undoubtedly, this was the booth where judges would normally sit to watch a holoball match in progress. A large pile of electronics sat in a heap next to a deactivated computer terminal, and Tanis walked over and began rifling through it. He set his plastic carrying case down and pulled out what appeared to be a pair of some kind of headsets. He tossed one to Shakara and kept one for himself, and then began shuffling around in the pile of electronics. Once he had pulled some wires free from the pile, he put on the headset and hooked it up to the wires. The headset featured a small screen projector, a wireless antenna on top, and a voice receiver. The massive earphones nearly covered both sides of his head, and he reached up and pressed a button on the side of the left one to turn it on.

"Yeah, go ahead and start letting them in, Rob. I'll be down there in a moment." Tanis said into the mic. He winked his eye to turn the receiver off and then spoke to them. "Alright everyone, here's the plan. I'm going to go out first and do a single song solo. Then Shakara will come out to join me for a second song, and after we finish is when I'll introduce you all. Tamista will do her songs, and then we'll do the trio songs to finish off the night."

"What about those headset things? Do I have to wear one too?" Tamista asked.

"It's not vital, no. But it does help amplify your voice if you're singing with your vocal cords and not psychically." Tanis said. "I don't sing, but I wear one anyway for the visual appeal. Watch this."

Tanis took a wire from the headset and clamped it to the gold crest on his forehead, and it began to glow just like the paint that the rest of them had been using. It also began changing color and even appeared to grow and shrink just a bit, which the paint obviously could not. Tanis bent over and began pulling pieces of what looked like black polished plastic armor from the same carrying case that had held the headset, and began strapping it on and hooking it together with wires. The segments were small enough that they didn't cover him very much, but were still excellent platforms for the glowing lights that he had wanted to use.

Cygnus saw through the glass windows that humans had begun pouring into the holoball court below and suddenly felt nervous. There were many more than he had imagined, and he knew that it would be unlikely that there would be room for any real dancing when the room was that tightly packed. Even though it was pretty dark down there, he could still see well enough to determine that the vast majority of the humans were teenagers or young adults in their twenties, and many of them had bizarre outfits and hairdos.

"Alright, I'm going to go get this thing started. I'll call you guys psychically as I need you, until then get ready." Tanis said, and walked down the stairs out of sight.

Tamista smiled nervously. "I think I'll try one of those headset things on as well."

Shakara, who was now digging through the electronics as well, leaned over and handed one to her. She thanked her and clamped it on awkwardly, having to adjust the size to fit her head. Nobody else beside Tanis, Shakara and Tamista decided to wear them, and Shakara had to show Tamista all the functions and proper ways to use and adjust it. Cygnus, Nolus, Melicia and Satoria stood in the opposite corner of the room, chatting with each other as a method to calm each others' nervousness. Soon they could hear the thumping bass of the music as Tanis started playing. Cygnus could see them dancing rhythmically to the beat, it looked odd since there was none of the usual holographic lighting effects that usually pulsed along with the music. He knew that Tanis was simply projecting these effects directly into the minds of the humans as they danced, and that as soon as he entered the dance floor he would be able to see them too, but from this vantage point it looked quite bizarre. Some of the humans reached their arms up into the air as if grasping at something that was hovering just above their heads.

Hardly ten minutes later, Shakara gave them a nod and then walked down the stairs to join Tanis. Cygnus could hear the music booming out there when the door opened, it was hypnotic and enticing. Then it was just the five of them together in that booth. Tamista walked over to the rest of the group to show off the DJ suit.

"Well, what do you think?" She asked earnestly.

"It's exactly the same as the other two!" Satoria said jokingly.

"Oh fine, be cheeky then. I've got a question anyway. Mom told me that sometimes musicians of this genre think up DJ nicknames for themselves, and I don't know what kind of nickname to pick for myself. Tanis is already using his own real name, so it would be kinda boring if I did the same thing. Mom's nickname is just a shortened derivation of her own name, "DJ Shakra", which is fine for her, but I want something unique and interesting. Can you guys think of anything?"

"Well your DJ suit certainly isn't unique or interesting!" Satoria teased.

Tamista socked her on the shoulder.

"How about 'Cosmic Wing'?" Nolus suggested.

"That's fabulous! I'm definitely going to use it!" Tamista said eagerly. "I'll tell mom about it right now!" she blinked, psychically communicating with Shakara, and grinned.

It wasn't long before Cygnus heard his father's voice calling them down to the court. He let the rest of the others go before him, and took one last look out the booth window. He then followed his siblings down the stairs, and when the door opened, it was like seeing into a completely different reality. Looking through the doorframe, Cygnus saw what looked like the inside of the Blue River. The walls of the room seemed to have vanished, just leaving the floor like a floating platform where all the humans stood. Most of them were dancing; others were standing entranced, watching the spectacle around them. Cygnus was extremely impressed with the beauty that his father could achieve with simple psychic visions.

The music's tempo slowed dramatically as they emerged into the room, and the humans didn't seem to notice them. An exit portal opened up in the top of the wall of the illusionary river, and the dancing platform flew up through it. Cygnus felt a slight twinge of nausea, the turn and speed were almost a bit too realistic for him. They emerged out into open space above Earth, and the music's beat faded away into calmness.

"Hover up above the humans and I'll reveal you there." Tanis said psychically to the four of them, and Cygnus nodded.

"Friends and fans, now it's time to introduce our special guests for the night, say hello to Cosmic Wing, Satoria, Cygnus, and Nolus!" Tanis announced aloud.

The humans in the room had various mixed reactions as Cygnus and his siblings became visible. Some of their faces were painted with awe and wonderment, while others cheered and clapped. Nolus felt awkward in front of them, and he waved slightly in a way that looked slightly pathetic. The three sisters bowed respectfully, Tamista now getting herself setup behind her own computer console.

All of Cygnus' nervousness suddenly disappeared at that exact moment however, and a rush of excitement and energy flooded his system as he looked at all the faces that were staring at him. He acted on his enthusiasm by stepping into a dramatic pose, reaching up for the sky like some kind of heroic sculpture. He spiced it up by activating his glow paint, giving the appearance of metallic flames curving up across his body in reflective golds and oranges. The humans whooped and cheered at the display.

"You're such a ham!" Satoria said psychically to him, followed by a stream of giggles.

"I guess it's in my blood." He replied, grinning over at her.

"Hey Cygnus, would you do me a favor? I left the tablet with your lyrics on it back upstairs in that carrying case. Would you go get it for me?" Tamista asked him psychically.

"No prob, I'll be right back." Cygnus replied.

"Hurry up, they're waiting on us." Tamista said, her psychic voice sounding suddenly nervous.

Cygnus sprinted back to the door, which reappeared out of the illusion of outer space, opened it, and climbed up the stairs back to the booth. He stumbled over a few wires lying on the floor and nearly fell flat on his face. He found the plastic case and opened it, and then began rifling through it to find the digital pad. He picked it up and suddenly the joint in the bottom snapped, letting both halves fall completely apart, spilling everything out on the floor. Surprised, he examined the case and found that there had been a decent sized hole in the bottom that had expanded and cracked far enough to lead to the whole case splitting. He shrugged and continued searching through the items that had fallen out. His heart rate steadily increased as he continued searching unsuccessfully as time passed, and his heart jumped when he finally realized that the pad probably had fallen out of the hole in the bottom of the case. The hole had been too small for the headsets to fit through, and the cords were too knotted up to fall out, but it was just the right size for a digital pad.

Cygnus felt himself beginning to panic. The show was on pause right now waiting for these lyrics, and if he didn't find them the whole thing would crash like a starship striking an asteroid. He scrambled around the room, knowing that it could have fallen out anywhere but hoping it had been nowhere. The booth, the stairs, the back hallway, and even the parking lot yielded no results however, and Cygnus realized the grim truth that it was probably miles away. As a last resort, he reached out with his mind to try to psychically detect it. All of the equipment they owned always had some kind of beacon element in them; he just hoped the one in the pad wasn't out of range of his senses.

Thankfully, he was able to sense it quickly, but unfortunately it was several miles away on the edge of the opposite side of the city. It would take several minutes to fly over there even at maximum speed, and he could already see the impatient and angry faces of all the humans back inside the dome, so he followed the only other alternative he could think of under pressure; he locked onto the tablet and teleported it into his hands. In his panic he had completely forgotten about the laws that forbade them to use their teleporting abilities inside the limits of a human city. He saw that the pad was intact and functional, so he ran back inside, down the steps, and handed the pad to Tamista.

"What took you so long? The humans were getting impatient!" Tamista said.

"I had a hard time finding the pad, the carrying case broke." Cygnus replied simply.

By now, Nolus and the others were mingling with the crowd and chatting. Nolus was talking to a teenage human with a purple Mohawk and several piercings, and Melicia was showing off her glow paint to a group of admirers. The psychic image of space around them began to fade however, and the chattering fell silently as people realized that the show was continuing. The illusion morphed, transporting them to a rocky cliff somewhere on the Earth's surface. The cliff was so high that there were clouds below them, obscuring the view of the earth below. The sky above them was sprinkled with shreds of cirrus clouds scudding along towards the horizon. The sun was rapidly sinking towards the clouds in the distance, changing the color of the sky around them from blue to a soft orange and pebbles tumbled along the red-orange rock they stood upon in a sudden breeze.

"I'd like to sing a song that my cousin Cygnus wrote for me. It's simply entitled 'Flying'." Tamista said, the microphone amplifying her voice across the sound system.

Tanis and Shakara, who had been DJ'ing the last few songs, now stepped back and faded into obscurity to let Tamista take total control over her song. She couldn't read the minds of machines like Tanis yet though, so she had to do most of the mixing manually and by herself. She manipulated the controls of the holographic panel skillfully, displaying her weeks of practice, and the music began to take shape.

At first, the song was a whirling mix of moaning winds and a steady crash of a tambourine, but a steady beat and a joyous melody of smooth synth tones climbed into the air around them. The rhythm and the melody flowed into perfect harmonic synchronization, and the humans began to shake their bodies and dance to the beat. More and more layers of tonal complexity evolved into the song, and Cygnus felt the need to dance coming over him now too. He hadn't exactly taken dance lessons before, but the energy that had gripped him before when his father had introduced them was rapidly coming back. It guided him in his movements, and soon he was blending in with the movements of the other dancers.

As Cygnus was dancing, the psychic illusion began to change. From beneath the rocky earth they had been dancing on, a thick transparent platform that looked to be made of glass emerged. It was threaded with a steel grid for stability and had small hover pods around the edges. Like before, it was big enough to carry everyone in the room. It hovered up into the sky, leaving the red rocky cliff behind rapidly. At that point Tamista began signing the first stanza of the song.

_Unseen wings aloft, you have flown_

_Silhouette so soft, night sky shown_

_You said one day, there'd be no end,_

_Our separate ways, forever friends_

Her voice was soft and gentle despite the booming amplification from the sound system. She managed to mix the tonal qualities of hopefulness and vulnerability. The atmosphere of the song began to calm a bit as the sunset continued, and they began dropping altitude towards the cloud layer below.

_The orange twilight, it brings new life_

_Fading skylight, a break in strife_

_Flying to you, flying home_

_Flying through the blue, still I roam_

With a rush they passed into the cloud banks, Cygnus could even feel the damp breeze rushing over him. He was very impressed with the amount skill Tamista was displaying in her co-ordination of the show. When they re-emerged from the clouds, a breathtaking twilight cityscape played out far down on the Earth below. The landscape was now bathed in a deep blue-purple light as the last light from the rapidly vanishing sun faded away. Low-lying wisps of cloud vapor sailed past them, some of them brushing against the platform and embracing them for a few moments before slipping away. As night descended over the scene and they approached the ground, the song slowed to a crawl for a vocal solo. Tamista sang the chorus in a slow harmonic style.

_City lights glow, in the dark_

_Overflow, blinding spark_

_In your arms, I'm riding high_

_By your charms, soar through the sky_

_By your charms, soar through the sky _

_By your charms, soar through the sky_

The song rapidly climbed a crescendo into its climax, with all the musical elements slamming together dynamically. The humans suddenly flew up into the air and soared through the sky around them. Cygnus new this was part of the illusion, Tanis and Tamista were allowing the humans to experience artificial sensations of flight to add a final finishing touch to the song. The humans looked surprised at first, but their expressions quickly changed from surprise to joy and excitement. They all flew around in various patterns as the song finished its crescendo, and then hovered back as it came to an end. One of the fliers let out an exuberant 'Whooooooo!' to show his approval.

The rest of the rave seemed to fly by at warp speed. Tanis and Shakara rejoined Tamista to do a couple of trio songs with Shakara and Tamista trading vocals on a co-authored song about lies and broken love, before proceeding to a purely instrumental song about the deep ocean. The visuals on that song were particularly inspiring, great creatures of the deep rose up from the darkness below them, and rays of lighter blue glimmered down from the surface around them. The song itself had some of the most powerful bass Cygnus had ever heard, it made his innards rumble and his ears ring. A huge submarine rose up alongside them, its surface covered with inlaid glowing blue circuit patterns. Cygnus saw other lights among the crowd, Nolus and the others were matching the hue with their body paint. The lights along the body of the submarine pulsed to the rhythm, almost as if it were using some super-advanced underwater sensor system. The immersion factor of this illusion combined with the song was nearly perfect, until the front door of the holoball dome slammed open.

A set of bright flashing blue and red lights poured into the room, and a man's voice boomed over a loudspeaker. "Nobody move! This party is over!"

A terrible sickly feeling suddenly washed over Cygnus and all his senses began to fog up and blur out. He stumbled to his knees as a paralyzing wave of nausea gripped him again. He wondered if the virus had somehow gotten back into his body again.

Human soldiers and police officers wearing armored suits pushed their way into the room and began ushering the partygoers out. Cygnus couldn't see what they were doing, but he could see that the psychic illusion of the underwater scene had disappeared. He felt a gloved human hand clamp around his shoulder and twist him up to look its owner in the eye. Cygnus saw a dark plastic and steel visor through his blurred vision.

"You and the rest of your family are all under arrest for violating section 35 of the psionics control initiative; using your port ability within the limits of a city." The visored man said.

"Oh….shit." Was all that Cygnus could say before the policemen cuffed him and dragged him and the rest of his family of.

**Chapter X – VIII**

Venius scrabbled along the step rocky ground in between the cliff face to his left and the forest foliage to his right, following the little path it made leading away from the house. The sun was starting to set now, and it was harder to see the loose rocks and avoid them in the waning light. His feet were getting calloused and tough from walking on them over the last few weeks, so the rocks didn't bruise his feet like they used to. Eventually he came across the little paw-shaped rock sticking out of the Earth and then flew upwards parallel to the cliff face to reach his little cave hideout up in the middle of the rock. The opening was barely big enough for him to crawl through, and it stayed that narrow for 10 feet before opening up into a cavern large enough to hold 30 people of his species.

Over the last few months Venius had decked out this little hideout of his with all the necessities of life, along with several luxuries. He has psychically shaved the floor flat and put in some carpet and then plugged any holes in the ceiling that leaked water to make the space comfortable. Then he had 'acquired' a few assorted pieces of furniture and appliances from unsuspecting humans and decked the place out with them. He had a mini-fridge, a small computer holo-terminal, a mini boom-box, and a lighting system that would draw electricity from the house's power grid when on. He also had a big comfy easy chair with a reading light and even a small mattress for sleeping on.

Venius had built this place to use as a getaway whenever he got tired of being around his family. If he ever got in an argument with his father or siblings, or if he ever needed a place to go and study without being distracted, this was the place where he would go. It was an island of calmness and solitude where he could let his emotions settle, and it had saved him from overstressing and snapping at least twice.

Tonight he had retreated here not because of stress however, but because of boredom. Everyone except Opulous and himself had gone to his father's rave, and there was simply nothing left to do. Venius had already finished doing his daily chores, and Opulous was too busy studying in the lab bunker to be bothered. Venius had also spent the last week inside that damned quarantine bubble, and he had spend practically ever hour in there wishing he could come back to this hideout again. He sighed with relief at finally being back and flicked the lights on with his mind.

If there was any one thing about human culture that Venius could appreciate, it was the variety and quality of their music. He wasn't really into techno, rock, or any other modern variants though; his real passion was for classical music from centuries ago. There was something about the rich, full styles of composers like Mozart, Strauss and Stravinsky that really appealed to him. He walked over to his old antique boom box and connected a data pad to it to upload a few choice songs for the evening. The technology it had originally employed was archaic, when he had first acquired it, it would only run on the outdated 'mp3' file format. He had needed to upgrade it in order to play current day mp9's, and he hadn't quite figured out how to put the plastic case back on right, so it looked like some kind of freakish Frankenstein hybrid of technologies. It still worked perfectly well though, and the sound quality was excellent, so he was satisfied with it. He started the music playing and sat down in his comfy chair and closed his eyes to let the music carry him off. He drifted through clouds of his own thoughts like this for several hours, the relaxation healing and regenerating his mind like a cooling salve gently applied to a burn.

After an unknown quantity of time, Venius became aware of a presence entering his hideaway. He barely cracked his left eye open and psychically flipped off the power switch on his boom box in order to listen closer. He heard a slightly shuffling, but no cooing or other bird calls that would indicate a group of wild bird Pokemon intruding on his space. He stared covertly at the opening to the cavern and decided to cloak himself before the intruder would emerge. After a few moments he saw his brother Opulous clumsily climb out of the tunnel and onto his feet.

"Venius, show yourself. I know you're in here." Opulous said, his normally calm and collected voice shaking.

Venius de-cloaked and rushed over to his brother, wondering what could have shaken him so badly. "I'm here! What's going on? How did you find me? Is something wrong?"

"A lot of things are going on. I was working in the lab when I got an emergency vid-mail from Ashley. She told me that father and the rest of the family have been arrested in new Saffron City! I came looking for you in your room, but you weren't there. So I just used the scanners in the lab to sweep the surrounding forests and mountains. They detected the power drain from your appliances, which lead me here." Opulous said, pointing the lights and boom box.

"I see…" Venius said, suddenly icy cold on the inside with fear. "Did Ashley say why they were arrested?"

"She said it was all over the news that they were using their powers illegally and dangerously inside the city limits, and that they've been taken to the highest security holding facility in Kanto, which is also in New Saffron. Aside from that, that's all we know." Opulous said.

Venius strode over to the passageway out of the cave and bent down to crawl in. "Come on, we haven't got any time to lose! Let's go!"

The two of them climbed out of the cave and Venius hovered in the air in front of the opening for a second, attempting to contact his Aunt's protectorate ships in orbit. He was met with a simple, robotic rebuke from the pilots; 'All fleet assets are paralyzed until further notice under order of Arch-council Shakara. Request denied.'

"I already tried that; apparently Shakara is keeping a non-hostile profile by putting her ships in standby in order to avoid angering the humans any more." Opulous observed.

Venius swore excessively, he needed a faster method of travel than psychic flight. Opulous raised an eyebrow at his colorful language and then spoke again.

"I don't know what you're planning on doing, but if it's some sort of harebrained scheme to bust them out, then I'm afraid I might have to restrain you. You'd only make things worse for all of us. What we need to do is go to New Saffron and find out what happened, and then see if we can negotiate with the humans holding them."

"Oh come on Opulous, we both know that won't work! Shakara controls a massive political body and all the warships from Ares' regime, and the humans still don't listen to her! Do you really think that they're going to listen to us? Two teenage kids with no powers outside of the psychic ones that we're not even allowed to use inside their cities? You might as well try telling Ashley that there's a Pokemon out there that's impossible to catch, they just won't listen!"

"And the alternative of breaking in there, guns blazing death everywhere, is superior? You're not thinking this through properly! Even if we could overwhelm the massive network of psionic disruption fields surrounding such a prison, such an act could be considered an act of war against humanity. Haven't you been paying any attention at all during Shakara's history lessons? Humans have been looking for an excuse to attack and destroy us for years!" Opulous said, anger now painting his face.

Venius remained incredulous and agitated, but his brother's logic had quelled his protests for now. "Alright then, shall we go and negotiate then, Mr. Diplomacy?" he sneered.

"Yes, I told Ashley we'd meet up with her in front of the New Saffron City hall in about an hour. Hopefully she can use her influence as a higher-up in the university to some advantage for us. Let's go." Opulous said.

A/N: So apparently it's one thing after another these days! Right after getting free from the virus ordeal, Cygnus inadvertently gets most of the family in trouble with the law! Tensions are about to make a significant climb, so be sure to stay tuned!

I'd also like to give special thanks to ZephyrAnalea for letting me use some of her lyrics in this chunk. The entire first stanza of the song Tamista sang here were written by her and provided with full permission. Thanks Z!


	7. Part I: Brotherhood : Chunk 6

**The Four Mirrors**  
Sequel to 'Legacies'  
By MMM/AJ

_This third and final installation of the series is dedicated to Katie. My biggest fan, my best supporter/helper, and my closest friend._

**A/N:** Hey guys, I'm going to switch the chapter order around this time, just for plot purposes. Normally I'd do Opulous now and Nolus later, but I felt it would work better if I switched it again.

**Chapter XI – NIII**

Of all the places in the world, prison was one that Nolus had never expected to find himself in. He and the rest of his family had been thrown together into one big group cell, and now were being left to stew on their current situation. Nolus was sitting isolated on a hard plastic bench in the upper right corner of the cell, Shakara was pacing around the interior of the cell maddeningly, and Tanis was sitting with Cygnus and the sisters on a bench on the opposite end of the cell. Cygnus was hiding his face in his paws out of shame, and Tanis was patting him on the back reassuringly.

Nolus had never seen Shakara seething with so much fury before. She paced with an irregular speed around the cell, sometimes speeding up and sometimes even stopping to think. Nolus could see a brightly burning spark of fury in her gaze, repressed behind a façade of deep thought. Her tail was also raised straight up in the air in Shakara's classic pose of anger, but it lost its deadly edge since the humans had forced her to wear plastic safety covers over all her blades. The end of her tail was entirely encased in this black plastic shell, as well as all the other blades on her body. Even her claws had little plastic caps attached to them. She picked at these caps like a nervous twitch as she walked, and said nothing as the minutes turned to hours in silence. A small holographic lens in the ceiling projected glowing red numbers of a digital clock above their heads; it ticked away in testament to the slow crawl of time.

The inside of the cell itself was soulless and bare, the walls made from polished plastic and steel with no tangible seams. The only furniture in the room consisted of the two hard plastic benches in the two opposite corners, a single small raised table in the center, and two bunk beds, one in each of the other corners. All the furniture was smooth plastic as well, and molded and integrated with the floor and walls so it couldn't be picked up and used as weaponry. The only things in the room that weren't plastic like this were the mattresses and sheets of the bunk beds, and these were even firmly attached to the plastic structure of the bed so that they couldn't be used as weaponry either. The room was lit by smooth white fluorescent lights that were recessed in the ceiling and sealed behind a thick layer of transparent polyplexiglass. The door to the cell was located in the wall directly to Nolus' right. The seams where it could slide back into the wall to open were too small for any prying device to fit, and the small window that the guards could look through was two inches of solid polyplexiglass, far too strong for any of them to break. There was no control panel or even a doorknob inside the cell for them to use. Worst of all, the entire building was soaked in one of the most powerful psionic disruption fields any of them had ever encountered. The humans had used a similar disruption field on them when they first shut down the party, and it had been enough to totally incapacitate any of them who had been using their powers when the field activated. The field they had used there could reflect all psychic energy used back into the brains of the user amplified to 150, so even using a tiny amount of energy such as the one used to create those psychic illusions was enough to completely scramble all of their senses for a period of time. The field employed here inside the prison however, was even more dangerous. The man who had lead them to their cell told them that it could reflect their energy back and amplify it by over 850, so that even a single joule of psychic energy could be returned with enough force to knock them unconscious instantly. If they tried to do something like form an energy sword or teleport, the reflective feedback from the field would kill them instantly.

"I'm sorry." Cygnus said, finally breaking the silence.

Shakara paused from her pacing and turned to face him, and everyone else turned to look as well. Cygnus looked around at them all, the shame still wearing heavily upon his facial expression. Nolus felt a deep sense of pity and sympathy for him, and stood up to walk over there and comfort him. Shakara spoke before he could take a single step.

"Sorry? Is that all? Just sorry for getting all of us incarcerated for god knows how long, and quite possibly destroying all my credibility in the Protectorate Council?" Shakara growled menacingly, managing not to raise her voice.

"Shakara, calm down." Tanis said, staring at her with a tentative but firm expression. Cygnus remained silent.

"Calm down? How can I? Do you realize the consequences of all this? The human governments are going to discredit me entirely. The Protectorate may even be dismantled, and it's all because Cygnus here couldn't keep it in his Swiss-cheese brain that we're not allowed to use any of our powers inside the city limits!" Shakara ranted, her voice now rising considerably. She pointed an accusing finger at Cygnus.

"I mean it Shakara, calm down! You're going to make this worse!" Tanis said firmly now, an angry frown painted across his face.

Shakara ignored Tanis entirely this time and walked up to Cygnus to him straight in the eye. "I hope you're proud of what you've done, you buffoon. We may be stuck in here for years if the humans decide to trump up the charges against us, and it's all because you didn't have the common sense, or even the memory of an average human to retain the vital fact that you're not supposed to teleport inside a city!"

Tanis finally had enough; he stood up and put himself directly between Shakara and Cygnus. "Don't you dare talk to my son that way! I understand he's made a mistake and needs punishment, but you're not the one to administer it. We agreed a long time ago when we decided to each have our own children that we would leave the parenting of them to each other. I wouldn't interfere with the parenting of your daughters and you wouldn't interfere with the parenting of my sons." Tanis said with the fury of a protective parent.

"Well I'm sorry to break it to you, but when _your_ son got me and my daughters arrested, he pretty much shattered that agreement, didn't he?" Shakara yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Oh, so after one screw up, you're entitled to throw our agreement to the wind and go batshit insane at my side of the family with impunity? How would you like it if I went over and threw a fit at Tamista or Melicia for not noticing that our carrying case had a hole in it that would eventually drop the lyrics?" Tanis yelled back.

"Try it, I dare you." Shakara said venomously.

At that moment, the holographic clock above them shimmered and morphed into the image of the human warden. At first his expression looked almost amused, but he seemed to quickly correct himself and change it to look of stern anger. His words interrupted Tanis and Shakara's argument abruptly, much to Nolus' relief.

"We gave you a group cell on the condition that you wouldn't cause a disturbance. This will be your only warning before you're all separated and put in individual solitary confinement." He said, and then paused to look over them. "And now, if you'll calm down, one of the New Saffron District Attorney's men wishes to speak with you. He'll arrive at your cell in five to ten minutes. Remember, if you try any funny stuff during his visit, you know what the disruption field here can do to you."

The hologram of the warden then shimmered and transformed back into the digital clock, and the room fell back into silence. Shakara shot Tanis one more poisonous look before turning back to her pacing in silence. Tanis shook his head in silence and sat back down next to Cygnus, who had returned to his previous pose with his face buried in his paws. Tamista, Satoria, and Melicia, who had been looking on in horror, all gave each other frightened looks and turned away to stare in silence. The plastic caps on Shakara's toe claws clicked noisily on the floor as she continued her pacing.

The five minutes passed agonizingly slowly as Shakara's ranting hung in the air. Nolus was mortified; he couldn't remember ever seeing his aunt this angry before… until his memory flashed a replay of his childhood for him. He remembered peering around the corner and seeing Tanis and Shakara yelling this once before, right after the incident when Venius was attacked by humans so many years ago. He hadn't been able to remember what that argument had been about before, at least not until now. He remembered that Shakara had accused his father of being negligent of the children and too trusting of humans, and Tanis had been returning fire that she was allowing her own prejudices against humans to cloud her perceptions of them. It was just an isolated incident, his father had said. Nolus remembered the terrible auras of anger he had seen emanating from them. Right now the psionic disruptors were suppressing all of Nolus' senses, but he knew that if he could turn on his aura-seeing ability now he would see that exact same aura permeating the room. Even without his psychic sensitivity he could almost taste it on the air, and a pit of anxiety began churning in his stomach in response to such strain between his family members.

Eventually, a silent swish to Nolus' right signaled the DA's man had arrived, and Nolus turned to get a good look at him as he walked in. He was a middle aged-man in his 40's wearing a dark navy blue suit and a tie with a red checkerboard pattern. His face was slightly chubby and his hair was blonde and cut in a traditional military buzz-cut. He had dull hazel eyes, and a series of pins stuck in his jacket. One was a UN flag; several were unrecognizable honors of some sorts, and one particular odd one that Nolus couldn't recognize. It was a small purple eye with a sword stuck in its pupil, and what appeared to be a tear of blood crying from it.

Shakara halted her pacing to stand and look him in the eye, and everyone else turned to stare at him as well. He didn't greet them with any kind of formality or politeness, but rather strode around the room and visually scrutinized them agonizingly slowly. Nolus squirmed a bit under his gaze when it was his turn to be scrutinized, but he didn't turn away or break eye contact with him. When he was done, the man walked to the table in the center of the cell, pulled a small digital pad out of his pocket, and pressed a few buttons on it. The holographic clock above them morphed into a full sized holo-computer screen. The man continued typing on his pad until the screen displayed a readout of recorded sensor data to fill the center of the room so that they could all see it.

"Today, 8 hours ago in the 7th district of New Saffron, our internal sensor network detected a pulse of unauthorized psionic energy, originating from the rear parking lot of North 7'th Holoball dome where you were holding your concert. Our sensors identified the pulse as a teleport, and upon further analysis we discovered that the target was somewhere just outside the city limits. This means that whichever one of you performed this teleport was most likely attempting to smuggle illegal goods into the city from outside." The detective said.

"I was only trying to retrieve a digital pad with some lyrics stored on it!" Cygnus protested.

The detective ignored Cygnus and continued. "We dispatched a swat team to apprehend you and began further analysis of the data. I'm only talk to you now because we have finished analyzing the sensor data and searching the holoball dome in question. We have determined that you were attempting to smuggle several portable psionic amplification devices into the city, as well as multiple laser rifles and explosive. Most likely you were planning on using to use the amplifiers to defeat our psionic disruption fields during whatever terrorist attack you had planned inside the city. We found the actual devices stored inside the holoball dome in question. Therefore the city will be charging you with one count of felony smuggling, one count of conspiracy to commit arson, one count of conspiracy to commit first degree murder, and one count of treason against the UN."

"Show me these weapons you found." Shakara said, trying to keep her facial expression neutral.

"What kind of fool do you take me for?" The detective replied.

"Unless you can provide the evidence directly to me, then there is no reason for me to even consider these charges as legitimate. I will call upon the Protectorate Council to file charges against New Saffron city for false arresting me and my family, as well as tampering with sensor evidence and defamation of character for the inevitable media firestorm this will cause."

"I've already spoken on the phone to three of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and they agree with me that the Protectorate's authority should be superseded in cases of potential terrorism like this. Either one of you confesses for your crime, or you will all stand trial and eventually face lifetimes in this prison."

Nolus was stunned; the prospect of spending his entire life in such a bare, soulless hellhole away from the beautiful greens of nature was horrifying. He saw similar expressions on the faces of his father, brother, and cousins, but Shakara had a stubborn look of defiance on her face.

"You think you can warp justice like this? You think you can wipe out my family with a few pieces of planted evidence? And do you really think I'd let it pass when I control so many warships in orbit?" Shakara said with poisonous delight on the last sentence.

"Go ahead and call them. But after ordering your ships to attack and break you free, you'll never hold political sway over any government again." The detective said frankly.

Uncontrollable rage began to creep back over Shakara's expression. "Go ahead, do this then. Throw me in prison. But know this, you and your leaders will have sunk just as low as my father, and I hope that fact stimulates whatever conscience you might have to slowly eat you alive from the inside out!"

This time, the detective's face contorted with anger. "It would be so easy for me to kill all of you right now, you know. I could just walk out of this room, push a button, and this cell would flood with chlorine gas, bringing you swift, painful deaths!"

Shakara realized she had just struck a nerve and grinned maliciously. "Then who'd be the one who would never hold political sway again eh?"

"Shut up! I don't care what you think. You're the evil ones here, you're just like Ares and the world will be better off when you're gone!" The detective said, getting progressively angrier.

Suddenly the holographic display of the sensor data flickered and faded out, replaced by the figure of the warden again. "Mr. Fredricks, will you clam it! Some jumped up wannabe from the University is here, and she-"

The warden was cut off and shoved off camera, and the transmission flickered out and ended. The detective glanced around the room at them, his anger suddenly melting into confusion. A few seconds later, the door to the cell swished open, and a procession of people entered. The group of people included Asha and Ashley, Opulous and Venius, a woman that Nolus recognized as Councilwoman Artha Tarell of the Protectorate, as well as three other protectorate council members and a few police officers.

"I bet you didn't expect us to be so pushy, did you Mr. Fredericks?" Artha said, directing the police officers to surround him.

Nolus could see the symbol of the Protectorate emblazoned on the arms of their uniforms, as opposed to the Symbols of the Saffron Guard that had arrested all of them.

"I bet you were counting on the Protectorate to take at least a week to deliberate before responding to these arrests? You were also counting on your friend the Warden to keep whatever you said in here under wraps. Well guess what, I've already got everything you said recorded and ready to present to the boys down at the UN, and I think they'll find it all quite interesting."

"Artha?!" Shakara said, stuttering ever so slightly in disbelief.

"Yes Arch-council?" Artha said, still smirking in satisfaction. "Is something wrong or are you just unhappy to see my face again as usual?"

"I…well…let's just say, you were the last person on the council I expected to come running to my rescue." Shakara laughed.

"Well, don't give me all the credit. None of us would have been able to organize this if it hadn't been for your friend Ashley here." Artha said, gesturing to Ashley who was now striding up to her and grinning.

Asha broke off from the group and ran up to Nolus to give him a big bear hug. "You alright bro?" she asked

"A little shaken up, but fine. How did you guys manage to pull this off?" Nolus replied.

"It's a bit of a story, but I will say that we got in contact with the Governor of Kanto and several other higher-ups, and next thing we know we find ourselves neck deep in a conspiracy to have you guys locked up for good. When we reported the evidence, they authorized the lock the whole place down and get you guys out!" Asha said with a grin.

Nolus saw the protectorate officers slapping the cuffs onto the detective, and heard more of the same clicking sounds from the hallway as the guards that had stood in front of their cell were arrested as well. He grinned slightly.

**Chapter XII – OIII**

There was something unnerving about the waiting room where Opulous was sitting. It could have been the fact that he was about to be called as a witness in his brother's trial, or it could have been due to the fact that the floor beneath him was completely transparent, making it seem he was standing in space miles above the Earth.

The waiting room he was sitting in was located on the lowest level of the human-controlled space station named 'Paladin', in synchronous orbit above Central Asia. Across the hallway to his left and four decks up was the Protectorate High Summit Hall, where his brother and the rest of his family were on trial at this very moment. The trial had been dragging on for 8 days now, and Opulous hadn't been called up to testify until now. The most infuriating thing about it was the fact that he had been kept in the dark about the proceedings during those 8 days, so he didn't have the foggiest idea what kind of situation he might be pulled into today. Shakara had asked for a silence order about the trial to keep the media from having a field day with it, but the consequence was that neither he nor Venius were allowed to know what was happening either. He had been told that they wanted him to testify on behalf of his brother, but that was all that he knew at this point.

"We're about ready to call you now, please proceed to the elevator." A female voice requested calmly over the PA.

Opulous stood and left the waiting room and the door slid open and shut for him automatically. He felt a slight tremble of nervousness in his stomach as he entered the elevator, but suppressed it deftly. He brushed it off as an adverse effect of the psionic disruption fields that permeated the station. He pondered the questions that the court might ask him as the elevator hummed to life and carried him up the four decks towards the Summit Hall. Another wave of nervousness gripped him, a bit harder to suppress this time. He felt a terrible insecurity in the back of his mind, it told him that he was going to say something idiotic and make a fool of himself any everyone else in the family. He crushed it with the logical side of his mind and frowned as the door of the elevator opened. There were four guards around the little side-door to the Summit Hall, all wearing the Protectorate Insignia on their shoulders. He walked up and nodded to the closest one on the left. The guard checked the readout on the little screen over his right eye, and then nodded and opened the door. Opulous thanked him and entered.

Opulous had never seen the inside of one of these human-controlled space stations before, let alone the inside of the High Summit Hall. He had imagined it being smooth and utilitarian with only a few insignias on the walls for decoration. He had been basically correct; the only difference was the abundance of flags. The room was a large oval, with polished steel walls and chrome highlights. The ceiling was a smooth low dome with soothing white recessed lighting. The place had been reconfigured to a standard courtroom, except for the lack of a jury box or audience seating. Instead of a single judge, there were two groups of three people, almost like a double triumvirate. The first group consisted of High Councilors Elvia Mitchells, Darren Meyer, and Kenara Desian of the Protectorate, and the second group consisted of three of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, from the United States, China, and France, respectively. To his surprise and discomfort, Opulous suddenly realized that he couldn't remember their names. He wondered if he really was nervous enough to blank out on something that important.

The eyes were upon Opulous the moment he stepped in; he could almost feel it all. He climbed into the witness booth quietly, now quashing his nervousness with determination as strong as iron. After he was sworn in, the lawyer for New Saffron approached his booth and began the cross-examination questions.

"Opulous, would you say that any of your family members are…intrinsically violent people?" The slick-haired lawyer asked

"No, not in the least." Opulous replied stoically.

"I see. Do you think that any of them might harbor any anti-human sentiments? Even slight ones?"

"No."

"Well, do any of them ever feel uncomfortable around humans? Even the smallest bit?"

"Well, Venius and Shakara sometimes get uncomfortable, yes. But I would hardly call that-"

"And do you think this quality would be beneficial for someone like your Aunt, who is in the very business of regulating human governments?" The lawyer asked, cutting Opulous off abruptly.

"No, but it's hardly potent enough to affect her judgment in any way." Opulous said sternly.

The lawyer nodded slightly before continuing. "Please tell the court everything you remember about the night in question when your family held the party in New Saffron."

"Everyone had just recovered from a serious illness. Those who had been infected had just been released from quarantine, and Tanis and Shakara were preparing to take everyone besides Venius and myself to New Saffron for the rave. I stayed in the medical lab continuing my study of the virus that infected them after they left. I was down there for hours, only leaving when I got a video message from Ashley Ketchum telling me about the incident in question." Opulous said.

"I see. What happened next?"

"I went to fetch my brother and he and I flew to New Saffron together to meet with Ashley and the others in front of City Hall. The flight took roughly an hour, and when we arrived Ashley was there with her daughter, as well as Councilwoman Artha and several other protectorate officers. We entered City Hall and asked for an emergency meeting with the mayor, but were denied."

"What did you do next?"

"Artha decided to call an emergency video conference with any other protectorate members who might be available. She managed to contact 37 of the 50 permanent members, and we discussed the matter for nearly 20 minutes. During the course of the discussion, they also managed to contact 2 of the UN Security Council Members, who authorized us to search the prison and city hall."

"Did the Protectorate council authorize this search as well?"

"Yes."

"Despite the fact that there weren't enough members present to achieve the standard 40 out of 50 majority for an intrusive search warrant of such magnitude?"

"Yes, but they based their decision on the fact that we had at least 4/5 majority of the members who were present."

"I see. What happened next?"

"More protectorate officers were called in, and we proceeded to the prison complex where my family was held. We searched the locker where the supposedly smuggled weapons were supposed to have been stowed but found none. Next we downloaded their database and listened to the voice recordings in the main offices and uncovered the plot cooked up by the District Attorney and the Mayor to cook up falsified charges. It was sufficient evidence to arrest the DA and release my family."

"You were witness to these events as well, correct?"

"That is correct"

"Did the Protectorate forces use violent or excessive force in any of these encounters?"

"No. As far as I can tell, standard procedure was followed."

"Thank you, no further questions." The lawyer said, and returned to the table with the 2 New Saffron Officials.

The family's lawyer approached Opulous on the stand next. Opulous immediately recognized him as John Ketchum, Ashley's husband. He was wearing his old military uniform, which was decorated with various medals and pins celebrating his combat service against Ares.

"Opulous, is it true that you and your family members are able to sense when there is a psionic disruptor field in place?" John asked

"Yes, we can all feel it clearly as a sort of physical discomfort." Opulous replied.

"Is there a disruption field active in this courtroom right now?"

"Yes, without a doubt."

John nodded and smiled. "The Saffron officials allege that your father and Aunt both used their telekinetic abilities to harass and injure several guards and the DA during the arrest. For this to be possible, the prison's disruption field would had to have been inactive at the time. At the time of the arrests, were the psionic disruptors active?"

"Undoubtedly."

"Therefore, the claims of abuse made by the Saffron DA must be false."

"Yes."

John paced a little bit before continuing his questions. "The Saffron DA has asserted that the search warrant issued by the Protectorate Council is invalid due to the fact that the minimum of 40 votes was not reached. What is your opinion on the validity of this claim?"

"I think that they are grasping at straws. I have read through the Protectorate Charter several times during my studies of governments and civics, and it clearly states that a '4/5 majority' is necessary to pass an intrusive search warrant against a member state. The charter does not specifically number the amount of votes required to pass the measure, only the ratio of majority. Since this ratio was satisfied, it shouldn't matter if members were missing or not. The New Saffron authorities are simply trying to have all of our testimonies thrown out in order to continue the pursuit of their false charges of weapons smuggling."

"Very good. No further questions." John replied.

Opulous was surprised at how short the questioning seemed, but he was grateful that it was over so quickly. He was thanked by the court and promptly escorted out of the courtroom, back to his waiting room.

Supposedly today was the last day of the trial, so Opulous was to sit in the waiting room until the proceedings ended, at which point he would either meet up with the family or be escorted out. He was put in the same room as before, so he got to contemplate the same cinematic view of the Earth as before. The station holds a geosynchronous orbit above central Asia, and now the sun was bathing the continent with a soft glow of light. Swaths of cloud were sweeping over the plains, ragged and thin like torn cloth.

Opulous felt tense and nervous after his stint in the courtroom, so he decided to try meditating again like his brother Nolus had taught him. He concentrated on lowering his respiratory and heart rates, and cleared his mind of idle thoughts. Besides the obvious acrophobic factor, having such a beautiful orbital view of the Earth was oddly serene. Such a commanding view of the planet lent a feeling of connectedness and Zen to the experience that was wholly unique for Opulous. He went from nervous and tense to relaxed and open within a handful of minutes, and time flew by much quicker than his first stay in the room. Before he realized it, the door swooshed open and his father appeared in the doorway.

"Hey Opulous, good news and bad news." Tanis said.

Opulous sighed and opened his eyes. "Bad news first, as always."

"The first bad news is that Cygnus was sentenced to six months for the illegal use of the teleport ability in the city. The good news that goes with it is that he and the rest of us were acquitted of the smuggling charges. But the second bit of bad news is that the Saffron DA and Mayor were freed as well."

Opulous frowned. "And how did they manage that?"

"The court didn't really explain it; they just released them and sent them back to their old jobs." Shakara said from behind Tanis

"And the worst part is that they sent Cygnus back to the same prison that we were held in, under that same corrupt DA." Tanis added.

"That's scandalous!" Opulous said, now scowling. "What are we going to do?"

"There's nothing we can do." Shakara said. "We were actually close to being convicted on those weapons smuggling charges! The US and French UN Security Council Members wanted to throw out our search. If it weren't for the Protectorate councilors we had on the job, we'd all be getting hauled off to jail for 20 years or more!"

"I wish there was a way to help Cygnus out and to bring some real justice to those who did this to us, but right now we're going to be lucky to even avoid press coverage at this point. All we can do is go home and hope for the best for Cygnus." Tanis said.

A/N: This here courtroom chapter has been a MAJOR thorn in my side for weeks now. It's blocked me out with a nice big writer's block, and kept me hung up on the fact that I know nothing about how a real trial works. I ended up going with the excuse that since we're so far in the future here, that trials wouldn't necessarily be the same as they are today. Not to mention it's a frikkin' fanfic, and it doesn't need to be ultra-realistic. So yeah, not my best work, and I know it, so no need to point it out to me, I know that chapter sucks.


	8. Part I: Brotherhood : Chunk 7

**The Four Mirrors**  
Sequel to 'Legacies'  
By MMM/AJ

_This third and final installation of the series is dedicated to Katie. My biggest fan, my best supporter/helper, and my closest friend._

**A/N:** I actually wrote ahead on this chunk during the time I was stuck on the courtroom chapter from last chunk. Hence my ability to get it out so incredibly early. Sometimes when I need to write, I just need to write! Hopefully this turns out better than the last chunk, so read and enjoy!

**Chapter XIII – CIV**

Six months of Cygnus' life were gone. Most of Spring and all of Summer had slipped by, leaving him behind in that dismal little plastic cell. For the majority of the time Cygnus spent in prison, he wasn't even given the mercy of a window to stare wistfully out of. Solid metal, plastic, and concrete boxed him in, and beyond that were boundless cityscapes and wildernesses separating him from his beloved family. It was only on the eve of his final month that they moved him into a cell that had a window, and he found that it ended up only intensified his yearning to be free even more.

His human keepers were oftentimes abusive to him, but not on any regular basis. Most of the time they kept away from him, avoiding contact altogether. They had built in a sliding drawer system to give him his meals, and only let him out to move once or twice a week. They controlled his cell's lights and temperature from the outside, and only spoke with him over the PA when it was necessary. Cygnus could sense the fear and hostility hidden behind their eyes whenever they did make contact, and on several occasions they expressed it via their brutal nightsticks.

The worst part of all however, was that insufferable cramped, claustrophobic feeling that hounded Cygnus during many of his waking hours. Normally, he didn't have real claustrophobia, his room at home was only marginally bigger than the cell in fact. What triggered it was his inability to go outside and move. He wanted to jog, to flex, to climb, to get all the pent up energy out of his system and just enjoy the great open spaces of the outdoors. All he could do was to pace around the inside of his cell like a tiger in an exceptionally small Zoo exhibit. There wasn't enough room in there to run, and if he tried the humans would probably yell at him over the PA anyway.

The humans had only allowed Cygnus' family to visit him once, two months into his incarceration, but that one day had been so wonderful that he used his memories of it to sustain hope during the rest of his imprisonment. The image of the warm, smiles of his father and brothers stuck in his mind as he endured the solitude. The best part of that whole day though, had been Aunt Shakara hugging him and apologizing for how vile she had been during that first day when they had all been imprisoned together. He had felt a warmth and sincerity in her that was rarely witnessed, and it went a long way towards healing Cygnus' guilt for getting the family into this whole mess. Shakara had always been a mother figure for him, despite her somewhat distant attitude, and he always looked up to her for her emotional strength. Whenever the cold nights alone in that cell made him feel sorrowful, he imagined her embrace again and he could feel her carrying him just like when he was a small child.

Finally, the relentless march of time dragged Cygnus to the end of his sentence. Every day it drew closer, he counted it down in his head. He thought about carving hash marks in the wall of his cell just like in the old movies, but he didn't have anything remotely sharp enough to scratch the walls with, and the humans would probably see it and beat him again anyway. He just kept repeating the words 'only a few more days left!' to himself in his mind, over and over again as the date grew closer. By his final day it was almost an unhealthy mental tick.

Cygnus was too excited to sleep the night before his scheduled release. He kept mentally going over the list of things he wanted to do when he got home, and the first thing on his list was to give big bear hugs to everyone in his family. By the time 6AM arrived and the lights came on in his cell, Cygnus was only beginning to feel tired. He leapt out of bed and walked over to lay his head against the door to listen for signs of activity.

A few minutes later, a voice came over the PA, "Step away from the door and assume search position."

Cygnus followed the standard protocol he had been taught and walked across the room to place his hands on the blue circles. He wondered why another search was necessary if they were going to release him, but by this point it was an ingrained reaction. He would do whatever was necessary to avoid another beating from the guards.

Four of them, all wearing their usual armor, entered the room to begin searching. Cygnus stood leaning against the wall on his arms, allowing them to pat him down from head to toe. He frowned as they routinely shuffled through the longer fur on his tail and shoulders, searching for concealed weapons or contraband. It seemed silly to Cygnus, it's not like he ever had access to anything remotely similar to weapons, but if the humans wanted to be paranoid about it, there wasn't really anything Cygnus could do about it. Eventually the guards finished their search and escorted Cygnus out of his cell.

This was the first time Cygnus had ever walked these high security halls without some kind of blindfold on. He had seen the lower security areas when he and his family had been locked up here the first time, but the guards had always blindfolded him whenever he was brought through a high security area. It wasn't really that different from the lower security areas, there were polished plastic and steel with sector numbers painted at hallway junctions. He noticed that there was always at least one camera watching any given area constantly, and he could tell that each and every junction had sliding steel doors that could slam shut instantly should the alarms be tripped. All the other cells were solitary as well, with little video monitoring screens on the outside of the doors instead of viewports. Cygnus caught a glimpse of one as they passed, it displayed a bald human man in a straight jacket sitting in the corner of his cell, rocking back and forth like a mental patient. He didn't get a chance to look closely and therefore couldn't make out any of his facial features. He simply felt grateful that he hadn't been forced to wear something similar during his own imprisonment.

The guards escorting Cygnus seemed to walk agonizingly slowly. He just wanted to sprint out of there as fast as physically possible, but he knew that doing that would end up getting him a rear end full of tranquilizer darts, so he just fidgeted with his hands to keep himself busy. When they passed out of the high security zone, Cygnus felt a strange feeling wash over him. It was almost like the feeling one gets right after an intense episode of physical pain had just ended: a wave of icy cool relief and pleasantness. It washed over him , sending exquisite little ripples of shivering up and down his spine. He even felt some of his fur stand up for a few seconds.

These waves of relief hit twice more as they neared the exit of the prison complex. His sense seemed to sharpen a bit as they walked as well, almost like switching from a low-definition solid screen TV to an ultra-high def holo TV. Opening up the outer door to the grounds, Cygnus drew a deep breath of open air for the first time since he had been put in that miserable cell. He could smell the odors of smoke and pollution, as well as the body odor of all the humans around him, but it hardly dampened the experience. He enjoyed the open air and sunlight even more than the day he had been released from quarantine after having that hemorrhagic virus. He enjoyed every minute of it as the guards led him past the other inmates towards the main gates in the fence.

Many of the inmates stopped what they were doing to turn and stare at Cygnus as he passed. One of them turned and ran away in apparent terror, yelling 'It's one of them!' A couple of the others even tried to move towards Cygnus threateningly, but the guards put them down quietly with a few airy pops from their tranq dart guns. The men staggered and fell flat on their faces as the drug worked its magic.

"Get out of our city!" a man's voice shouted.

Cygnus instinctively turned towards the source of the voice, and a fist-sized stone sailed through the air and struck him on the left side of the face. He was taken completely by surprise and toppled to the ground, his vision blurred from the force of the blow. He climbed to a sitting position and looked to see what was happening, rubbing the huge new bruise that had been painted across his cheek.

Cygnus saw that his escort of guards had ran over to attack the man who had thrown the stone. They produced those same brutal black nightsticks and began beating the man into submission. He couldn't help but feel a little sorry for this man, despite how much the bruise hurt. He had been on the receiving end of those nightsticks before, and he knew that they were much, much worse than getting a rock to the face.

This incident had lit the fuse on a long dormant bomb of inmate anger, and a huge group of them converged on the four guards. Seeing the brawl erupt, Cygnus decided that it would be wise to leave. He stood and bolted towards the main gate as alarms began howling and canisters of tear gas were fired from the guard towers. Critical mass had already been reached though, and the masses of rioting inmates were growing. A large group of them managed to get in front of Cygnus, right between him and the gates. Cygnus switched course, heading toward another gate, and ran straight into another group of prisoners. One of them in particular was especially muscular looking, and had several intimidating-looking tattoos all over his body. One of them caught Cygnus' attention, a little purple eye with a sword stabbing it in the pupil and weeping a tear of blood. The man cracked his knuckles threateningly before lunging at Cygnus.

Cygnus leapt to the side to dodge the man's attack, and before anything else could happen, a gas canister landed in the middle of them and released a cloud of sickly yellow smoke. The gas burned Cygnus' eyes like chili powder, and in the confusion he tripped and fell. He heard the inmates spewing profanities and scattering as the gas billowed forth. One of the men took the opportunity to kick Cygnus in the ribs before running off, and another stepped directly on his arm as he ran. Both times Cygnus felt a terrible snapping of bones and sharp stabbing lightning bolts of pain. Still without the use of his powers, Cygnus couldn't do anything except lie there and yell out, hoping to attract guards over to help him. He tried to sit up, but the broken rib sent screeching bolts of pain up his torso, so he was force to lie back down and hope that more prisoners wouldn't come. The gas continued to burn his eyes until a gust of wind came up and blew it away.

Cygnus heard yelling and the deadly hum of energy rifles firing, as well as footsteps coming up behind him rapidly. Hands gripped his shoulders and lifted him off of the ground. He saw that they belonged not to human guards or prisoners, but to his father and Aunt Shakara! His broken rib roared in protest as they lifted him, but eventually quieted down since they were lifting him by his shoulders.

"Hold on Cygnus, we just need to make it outside the range of their disruptor fields and you'll be ok!" Tanis panted.

Together they ran as fast as they could towards the other gate. A few more rocks sailed toward them as they ran, but all missed. One inmate hurled a homemade knife at them with lethal accuracy, but Shakara blocked it with her tail blade. It clanged loudly and tumbled to the side harmlessly.

When they arrived at the second gate it was in the process of sliding open to admit a horde of armored riot police. Several ambulances were hovering outside the gate as well, already taking on the victims of the violence. The three of them managed to push their way through the gate, past the dozens of riot police pouring in. They kept running even after clearing the gates, heading down the nearest city street. One of the paramedics yelled after them, offering assistance, but they continued running and ignored him completely.

Once they had put a few city blocks between themselves and the prison gates, the disruptor fields fell away behind them. Tanis and Shakara both used their Recover power abilities on Cygnus simultaneously, Tanis healing his arm and Shakara healing his rib.

"Thanks guys, I'll take it from here." Cygnus said.

Cygnus recovered the bruise on his face, along with all the scrapes and abrasions he had gotten in the scuffles. It also had the pleasant side-effect of clearing up the chemical burns in his eyes that were caused by the gas bomb. He felt better in that moment than he had felt in his entire 6 month stay in the prison.

"Any other injuries? Maybe I should make sure." Tanis said, wanting to use recover on him again.

"I'm fine dad, really!" Cygnus insisted, grinning.

Tanis hugged him crushingly. "I missed you so much!"

Cygnus returned the hug, filled with joy and relief from being able to hug his father again. They could have stood like that for several more moments, but Shakara interrupted. She set her hand on Cygnus' shoulder and he released his hug to face her.

"Glad to have you back kiddo." Shakara said with a slight smile.

"How've you been blades?" Cygnus asked, chuckling a bit.

"Oh, busy as usual. Shall we go meet up with the others? Don't want to keep them waiting, do we?"

"Where are they?" Cygnus asked.

"We were all waiting at the main gate for you to arrive. When the riot broke out we told them to wait for us there while we ran in to rescue you. Hopefully they're somewhere safe by now." Tanis said.

"Let's go then!" Cygnus said enthusiastically.

The three of them walked through the streets back towards the prison and took a slight turn to find the main gate. Re-entering the radius of the prison's disruptor fields, Cygnus felt that sickly feeling return again. Pedestrians stopped on the sidewalks stopped to stare, and Cygnus began to feel uncomfortable with all those eyes on him again. He could even see a few faces peering through windows to stare, pale and curious amongst the numerous neon lit signs that covered the faces of the buildings. Their eyes were a lot more intimidating than the flashing slogans plastered everywhere, trying desperately to draw attention.

"Look mommy, they're like really big kitties!" a little girl's voice said from behind them.

Cygnus turned and saw a human girl, no older than five years walking close behind them. She was wearing a little yellow dress with stripes like a Pikachu on it, and her eyes sparkled with a curious delight. Her mother was climbing out of a parked hover car, wearing a business suit and carrying a suitcase. When she saw what her daughter was doing she dropped her suitcase, sprinted over, and picked her up.

"Stay away from them, they're dangerous!" the mother scolded quietly, carrying her away.

"Bye dangerous kitties!" the girl shouted to them, waving and smiling.

Cygnus chuckled and turned back to face the road before them. He could see a slight grin on his father's face as they walked.

They reached the main gate to the prison grounds relatively swiftly and found several swat vans and ambulances parked there, but no sign of the others. Several guards and inmates were being carted out on stretchers and loaded onto the ambulances. A few of the men were carrying black plastic body bags out of the grounds as well, sending shivers of horror down Cygnus' spine.

"Did you see where the rest of my family went?" Tanis asked one of the swat members as they approached.

"Clive said that they went down 113th street looking for you." A woman's voice replied from behind the swat visor.

They turned and jogged down 113th after thanking the woman. They passed more curious onlookers and two more ambulances sailing past to get to the main gate. Eventually they came across the local Pokemon Hospital, a glass building seven stories tall with the standard lit up Pokéball sign above the entrance. Cygnus could see through the glass easily and spied the rest of the family standing at the reception counter. Venius appeared to be a little less than happy with Nurse Joy as well, he was gesturing angrily at her while the others just stood back and watched. Cygnus pushed the door open, triggering a cheerful electronic chime, and Joy frowned and pointed at him.

"There! See?" she growled at Venius.

Venius turned to look, a dumbfounded expression upon his face.

"Cygnus!" Melicia called joyously, running over to give him a crushing hug.

"See, what did I tell you?" Opulous said calmly.

"Yeah fine. Sorry Joy." Venius said grudgingly.

Melicia's bear hug had enough force to push some of the air out of Cygnus' lungs, and he had to ask her nicely to let go so he could go and properly greet his brothers properly.

"Geez Cygnus, you reek!" were the first words out of Venius' mouth. "Have you been cuddling up with your smelly human cellmate?"

"Actually, I was in solitary the whole time. They just only let me out to bathe once a week." Cygnus replied.

"I guess that explains why you've let your fur grow so long!" Opulous said, gesturing toward Cygnus' shoulders.

"You two are terrible! Greeting your brother like this after four months!" tanis scolded.

"Oh dad, you know we're just fooling." Venius said defensively.

Cygnus slugged Venius on the shoulder lightly and grinned. "You're such an asshole!"

**Chapter XIV – VIV**

The next morning when Venius awoke, a pit of unease was festering in his mind. Last night's little episode of eavesdropping on Tanis and Shakara had haunted him all night, and it was still tormenting him now. He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, but the amount of sleep had had lost to nightmares last night was too great to brush off. He walked over to his window to get a face full or morning sunlight in an attempt to force himself awake.

The sunlight was strong already, the pinks and oranges were already fading away to the blue of full day. A set of five vaporous contrails traced across the sky above, left by a group of human ships traveling in a loose V formation. A slight breeze rustled the gold and red autumn leaves of the trees that clustered around the yard. Venius caught a glimpse of Cygnus returning from his morning jog. The rattling he caused in the branches dislodged a flock of leaves which sailed to the ground in a cascade of warm golds, reds, yellows and browns.

Venius was too distracted by his own internal machinations to enjoy the beauty of this scene. He scowled at the human ships as they crawled overhead, wondering what business they had flying here. Father always scolded him and told him that he was just being paranoid whenever he complained outwardly. So far, father had been correct as well, none of the ships that ever passed overhead ever showed any interest in their little abode. But Venius just couldn't brush off their presence, especially as their fly-byes increased in frequency.

Venius eventually wandered downstairs and found Melicia and Tanis cleaning the dishes left dirty after breakfast. The others had apparently gone to the study already to prepare for the day's lesson. Melicia greeted him cheerfully as she picked up the dishes from the dining table.

"Morning snoozy! We were about ready to grab a stick and poke you with it!" She said with a grin. "Forget to set your alarm?"

"Must have." Venius grunted. "What was for breakfast?"

"The pears in the back of the third greenhouse dome finished ripening, so we had them sliced on our cereal this morning."

Venius followed Melicia into the kitchen as she carried the dishes to the sink where Tanis was scrubbing them. It waskind of funny for Venius to see his dad elbow deep in suds, the only thing that could have completed the image was if he had worn a pink apron and rubber gloves. He stifled a momentary chuckle before speaking.

"Hey dad, can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Venius asked.

"Can it wait until later? I'm a bit occupied here."

"No, not really, I don't want to wait until after today's lesson, and you can have Melicia finish that."

"Oh, thanks!" Melicia said in an annoyed tone.

Tanis sighed and rinsed the suds off of his hands and arms in the other side of the sink. The two of them walked out of the kitchen together, and Venius saw Melicia lifting and rinsing the dishes with her mind to get the job done faster. Once had they had found a quiet corner in the back hall where they could be alone, Venius spoke.

"Father, I overheard your conversation with Aunt Shakara last night. I know that the guards were beating Cygnus during his time in prison."

Tanis frowned and hid his face in his hand for a moment. He didn't say anything, so Venius continued.

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing." Tanis said, his voice implying shame.

"What do you mean, 'nothing'?! These apes beat your son into submission with sticks, and you're going to do _nothing_?!"

"Keep your voice down!" Tanis admonished.

"Just look at Cygnus now, he's like a completely different person after what he went through! I heard about what happened last night when you knocked on his door. He was leaning with his arms against the wall, reflexively waiting for a pat down search! Tell me dad, if some group of humans were to gong up on me and beat me senseless, would you just let them?"

"Listen to me!" Tanis snapped, anger now contorting his face. "First of all, lower your accursed voice! Melicia and the others don't need to hear this!"

Tanis paused a moment to get a grip over his emotions. His look of rage faded, but Venius could see a look of profound sadness hidden behind his eyes. He suddenly felt a pang of regret for hurting his father like this.

"I know that you don't watch any of the humans' holo-TV, so you don't know about this yet. A series of wars has erupted between the humans all across eastern Europe and the Middle East."

"So what? Let the humans kill each other, it's fine by me! What does it have to do with the abuse Cygnus endured in that hellhole of a prison?"

"It has to do with the fact that the authority of the Protectorate has degraded so badly that it can no longer serve its original purpose: to prevent war. If your Aunt can't keep the peace between the humans, then what makes you think that she will be able to punish a few abusive prison guards? You remember what happened at Cygnus' trial, you know that the humans have less and less respect for us with every passing week. If we tried, the only thing we'd accomplish would be to irritate them even more." Tanis lectured.

Venius knew his father was right, but it felt sick and wrong to let those humans get away with what they did to his brother. He mentally stumbled while trying to think up something to say.

"Now if you're satisfied, I have a lesson to teach and you need to get your type-pad and get to the study, alright?" Tanis said calmly.

"Alright." Venius said in resignation.

A few minutes later, Venius joined the others in the study with his digital pad and took his usual seat between Cygnus and Nolus. The desks felt smaller and smaller every time he sat in them, and this year it was even worse. Cygnus was staring out of the window in boredom, Nolus was fidgeting with his pencil, Opulous was studying diligently, and Melicia was chatting with her sisters endlessly. Tanis walked over to the display console and activated it, and it showed an idle screen with a file list on it.

"Alright everyone, I know it's hard to make it up on your third day of classes so far this fall, but let's concentrate. Today we're going to start a new subject, and-"

"Excuse me Uncle Tanis, but where's mom?" Tamista interrupted.

"Well, she had to leave early this morning for an emergency Protectorate meeting. Since most of you don't watch holo-TV, you probably haven't heard about the wars that have broke out recently. 8 different European nations and several Middle Eastern nations have become entangled in a huge conflict, and the Protectorate has been unable to negotiate peace. Shakara had to leave last night about 4AM when the fighting began, and she's been out since."

There was a nervous silence for a moment as the news sank in.

"I personally don't know a lot about this war yet, Shakara has only contacted me once and she has told me that the humans are trying to keep the proceedings secret for some reason. Until we know more though, I'd like to go about our lesson today like normal. Any more questions?"

Nobody spoke up.

"Good. Now, as I said before on your first day of classes, we're ready to move into college level material. Today, I'm going to introduce you guys to a college level subject: 'Theories of Dimensional Mechanics'."

"Ohhh jeez." Cygnus moaned. "We're in for it now."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Right now, we're just doing theories. No calculations yet. So please, just stop whining." Tanis said, stress evident in his voice.

"Now this is an introductory class, so we're going to cover some basic things today. There are 2 basic bedrock theories that this class rest on. The first and most important of these theories is the Multiple Universe Theory, which is pretty self explanatory. There are infinite amounts of dimensions in the Multiverse, and each one is different in some way. Though, the term 'dimension' is a misnomer, since in the literal sense it refers to width, depth, distance, time, etc. So in this class, we will refer to these separate dimensions as 'planes'. And between every one of the infinite planes, there is an anomalous region that has been named 'The Interplanar Space.' This is the basic composition of existence.

Tanis mentally interfaced with his computer for a moment and called up the file he wanted. The big holographic screen flickered for a moment and displayed what appeared to be a large sphere diagram with only one entry, 'everything'

"The second theory states that everything in the universe can be broken down into 2 major categories: Energy and Nothingness."

The sphere chart on the screen split into 2 spheres just like a bacteria undergoing binary fission. The sphere labeled 'Nothingness' was at least 75 larger than the sphere labeled 'Energy'.

"Excuse me, but what about matter?" Opulous interjected.

"Good question, I was about to get to that. Now you all know what nothingness is, so we have the energy subset. Energy can also be divided into two subsets: Ambient energy, and matter. It was Einstein's famous equation that established that relationship, and it's provable whenever you run nuclear reactions where matter is destroyed."

Next, the sphere labeled 'Energy' split, making 2 smaller spheres labeled 'Ambient Energy' and 'Matter'.

"Finally, matter can be split into 2 of its own subsets: Normal Matter and Antimatter. Both of which you're hopefully familiar with."

The 'Matter' sphere split as well, completing the subset graph. The 'Nothingness' sphere dominated the entire chart as the largest, followed by ambient energy, then normal matter, then antimatter.

"Matter and antimatter also have their own subsets as well, which we know as the periodic tables of elements, but we're not studying those in this class." Tanis said.

After a brief pause to change the display, Tanis continued.

"Every plane we've seen contains these same basic 4 elements of existence, and every plane we've seen has followed basic laws of physics including linear forward flow of time and consistency of space. But the Interplanar space is different, it doesn't follow many of the normal laws of physics. Time isn't linear, space isn't constant. Things are in a constant state of flux in there. This is why Interplanar travel allows our ships to travel across such enormous distances in such a short time, because space in the Interplanar space doesn't necessarily correlate to space in our plane."

"Question! If that's true, then how is it possible for ships to travel through it without being torn to shreds?" Opulous asked.

"Good question. The answer was actually first discovered by Ares when he began experimenting with dimensional travel before his rise to conquest. He was studying the various differences between planar and Interplanar space when he found one key difference: the presence of a structural grid underneath space called 'subspace'. He discovered that, like the four elements of existence, subspace is a constant presence in all planes. But the big difference is that it is absent in the Interplanar space, allowing the forces of entropy and chaos morph space and time willy-nilly. One of Ares' greatest technological achievements was discovering a way to carry a bubble of subspace around a ship like an energy field, shielding it from fluctuations during its trip. He derived this field after studying the energy fields that our minds emit when we use our powers to teleport. Since our teleport power is basically a short jump through the Interplanar space, all it took was a direct analysis of how Psychic Pokémon have naturally evolve the ability to control subspace in order to teleport."

A strange expression crossed Tanis' face and he stopped talking for a few moments. He looked up into the air as if telekinetically talking to someone and frowned.

"Guys, I hate to cut the lesson short, but Shakara is calling me over to help her. She says that it's an emergency, and that I need to go now. I want you guys to all stay here, and please, for my sake and yours, study until I get back." Tanis said

Tanis jogged out of the study, and Venius watched through the window as he Psychically flew off to meet Shakara, wherever she was. The seven of them remained silent, they knew that things could only be getting worse at this point, and they didn't need words to communicate the universal sentiment of worry.

A/N: So, what could this war mean for our favorite family of 'Twos? If the Protectorate is unable to stop it, then how badly will it escalate? All I can say is that we're on the eve of some major events in the story now, the tension is about to hit the breaking point! Stay tuned!


	9. Part I: Brotherhood : Chunk 8

**The Four Mirrors**  
Sequel to 'Legacies'  
By MMM/AJ

_This third and final installation of the series is dedicated to Katie. My biggest fan, my best supporter/helper, and my closest friend._

**A/N:** Ladies and gents, this is where the tension finally reaches the breaking point! And hoooooly cow, we've got a massive 30 pages here too! Better get a glass of your preferred beverage ready!

NOTE: We're going to do one Nolus chapter here, and then jump into Shakara's POV. You'll see why when you get there!

WARNING: This chunk contains multiple scenes of graphic violence. The squeamish should be warned.

**Chapter XV – NIV**

The duel had come down to the wire now; it was just Nolus versus his brother Cygnus. They were now engaged in a battle of speed, running around the yard attempting to hit each other without exposing themselves to a retaliatory blow. Nolus had 2 health points left, and Cygnus had five. They closed the distance between each other and attacked.

Cygnus's sword struck Nolus in the knee, bringing him down to one point left. Nolus jumped backwards in an attempt to draw his brother forward, and on an impulse, activated his aura vision.

Cygnus' aura seemed to swirl around him like a spinning firestorm, beautiful in its energetic twirl. Nolus could see it beginning to twirl around his left leg, indicating the direction that he was going to leap. Nolus was able to predict Cygnus' attack with this knowledge, and ducked down underneath his swing to deliver three quick successive blows to his stomach. Cygnus' health meter dropped to Zero and his sword flickered out and disappeared.

"Ha, I finally beat you Cygnus!" Nolus laughed, letting his own sword fade out and turned off his aura vision.

"Well I'll be damned! You finally got me!" Cygnus said with a smile. "It's about time one of you guys took my title from me!"

"So, another game?" Melicia asked, approaching from where she had been sitting and watching from the sidelines.

"Yeah, I always get stiff sitting and watching after you guys eliminate us. It's sort of a vicious cycle!" Satoria said, walking alongside her sister.

"Alright, I'm up for another shot!" Nolus said enthusiastically.

"Should I try calling Opulous again?" Venius asked.

"If he wouldn't come out of that research bunker 2 hours ago, what makes you think he'll come out now?" Tamista asked.

"Good point. What's dad up to?" Venius said.

"He's working in the study now I think" Cygnus said. "Working on some papers for Shakara is what he said."

"Alright, I declare game-on in ten seconds!" Cygnus shouted quickly, and ran off toward the first greenhouse.

Everyone scattered to different corners of the yard again and reset their health counters to the standard 30 points. Nolus grinned and decided to use his aura vision from the get-go this time to see how much more of an advantage it would give him. He scanned his surroundings with it really quickly, taking in the environment from the unique perspective it afforded him. The trees glowed ever so slightly in a faded green and orange, their life energy fading preparation for the coming winter sleep. His family members stood out wildly in contrast, emitting teardrop-shaped glows in their characteristic colors. He could also see a little flickering in the sky as well, as 5 human ships flew overhead in a V formation.

Nolus decided to go for the subtle approach this time around. He watched from afar as Cygnus dueled with Tamista over by the greenhouse and grinned. She lost eventually, but managed to wear his health points down and distract him enough that Venius could spring a surprise attack on him. Eventually, when he saw an opening, Nolus ran from his hiding place next to the house to attack Cygnus. He made it halfway across the yard before being thrown to the ground by a sudden blast of light.

The first thing that Nolus felt was a searing pain in the back of his head like a migraine multiplied thirtyfold. A catastrophic boom assaulted his ears, and it was followed by a loud ringing which signified hearing damage. He felt scrapes all over his arms and legs from where had fallen.

Nolus climbed to his knees to try to see what had happened, but another terrible explosion knocked him backwards like a ragdoll, back towards the house. He heard a terrible crashing of wood, stone and glass, as well as a scream from one of the sisters. Nolus didn't even get a chance to try and sit up; three more explosions rocked the earth around him, blunting his senses like blows from a hammer. The moment he had a chance, Nolus climbed to his feet and tried to run towards the general direction of the scream he had heard. His sense of balance was still screwed up from the concussive force of the explosions though, so he stumbled and fell several times. All he could see now was a thick veil of dirty black smoke choking the air all around him. His brain was too paralyzed with panic and confusion to comprehend what had just happened, all he could think of doing was to run towards whoever had screamed.

Passing through a cloud of smoke, Nolus saw a bloody scene unfold before him. His brother Cygnus was lying on the ground with a piece of metallic shrapnel jutting out of his chest. Melicia was crouched over him, frantically trying to help him but fumbling. Behind them there was a huge crater full of shattered glass and shredded plant life where the greenhouse used to be. A fire was already beginning to consume the ruined greenery.

Nolus sprinted over to his fallen brother and tried to use his recover ability on him, but that same terrible burning sensation wracked his skull again, rendering him powerless. He gripped his head in agony, trying to will the magma flow of agony to stop. He focused his thoughts on his brother and ignored the pain as it slowly faded, and tried to think of a plan of action. He remembered that the third research bunker had a med-bay in it, and that it was capable of autonomous healing procedures.

"Quick, help me lift him Mel!" Nolus shouted desperately

Nolus grabbed Cygnus by the shoulders and Melicia scrambled over to grab his legs. They lifted him together and ran through another billowing wall of smoke towards the third bunker.

They found the third bunker had managed to escape the attacks unharmed; there was a charred crater right next to it indicating a near miss. The two other bunkers however, were completely demolished from direct hits. Nolus nearly felt his heart stop when he saw Satoria and Tamista frantically digging in the rubble, uncovering Opulous' mangled body.

"Put Cygnus in one of the med-bays, I need to go help Opulous!" Nolus yelled.

Melicia grunted as Nolus heaped all of Cygnus' bodyweight into her arms. She hefted him inside the door to the bunker while Nolus sprinted over to the ruins of the second bunker.

When he arrived, all that the girls had uncovered was Opulous' right arm and torso. Nolus grabbed onto a beam that had fallen on Opulous. The girls climbed over to help him, and the three of them together managed to lift it up off of him. They shuffled a few inches to the side and let it slam to the ground with a terrible crush. Nolus nearly vomited when he saw what the crossbeam had done to his brother; its weight had crushed his tail, nearly severing it against a concrete edge. Torn muscles, shards of bone, and a large pool of blood filled Nolus' vision, clouding out his rational mind and filling it with terror. He had to turn away and take a deep breath in order to keep his composure. His mechanical, blank responses to the unfolding situation finally broke down and his emotions flooded out as if the damn had burst.

"Oh god no!" Nolus cried, kneeling to dig away more of the debris on top of Opulous.

Several pieces of the debris were still hot from the blast, and Nolus' hands suffered repeated burns from the metallic parts that he had to move.

"I'll kill them!" Venius' voice bellowed over the crackling of the fires.

Venius emerged from the smoke, his visage a perfect portrait of anguish. His face was wrinkled with purest rage, but tears ran down his face to betrayed utter sadness. He gripped his head with both hands and released a drawn out, wrathful yell towards the sky as if cursing the gods themselves. He fell to his knees, still clutching his head, and yelled again as if he were being physically tortured. He clawed at his skull like an animal and lowered his head to the ground before falling silent.

"Oh my god!" Tamista squeaked, her voice strangled by terror.

Nolus turned back and followed Tamista's gaze, seeing that they had managed to uncover Opulous' head. A large portion of the left side of Opulous' face was burned black. Flakes of char were already peeling off of the region where his left eye had been, and his teeth were visible through what little was left of his cheek.

"Venius, help us!" Satoria cried

"I'll kill them all! Murderous apes!" Venius yelled, reawakening from his collapse.

"Come on, just go!" Nolus said to Satoria, and continued lifting more burned debris.

When they lifted the last chunk of concrete off of Opulous, revealing his left arm, they saw that it too had been mangled and burned beyond recognition. No blood flowed from these wounds, the heat of the blast had cauterized everything and crisped the arm and covered it with an even coating of black. Nolus suddenly realized that his brother might be dead, so he quickly fingered his neck to check for a pulse. To his utmost relief, Opulous felt it still faintly beating under the skin, so he redoubled his efforts to help him and carried him by himself, leaving Satoria and Tamista behind to run over to the third bunker.

Inside he saw that Melicia had already put Cygnus in the med bay, and it was in the process of stabilizing him. The tube of oxygenated liquid was clouding up with blood from Cygnus' wound so it was difficult to see what was happening, but the lack of a pulse on the monitoring readout made Nolus' blood run cold. He sprinted over to stick Opulous in another of the glass tubes and slammed the activation switch.

Satisfied that Opulous was properly set in the med bay, he ran over to check on Cygnus.

"Is he still alive?" Melicia squeaked, wiping tears from her eyes.

The screen next to the med bay read "Subject stabilized by oxygenated fluidic medium, cell death minimal. Artificial heart implantation 40 complete"

"It says he's alive, but he needs a new heart…" Nolus stuttered.

Though the oxygenated medical fluid was getting progressively cloudier from Cygnus' blood, Nolus could still see a large hunk of flesh floating at the top of his tank, his brother's heart with the jagged piece of metal piercing it all the way through. Silvery robotic arms were moving delicately inside the hole in Cygnus' chest. Though it was too murky to see the smaller details, he knew that the artificial organ was being implanted at that very moment while he watched.

Nolus dashed back over to Opulous' tank, making sure that he was stable as well. The status screen said "Subject in critical condition. Multiple concussive impacts and third degree burns across 15-20 of body surface. 100 of left arm and 25 of tail considered irreparably damaged, proceeding with implantation of cybernetic prosthetics…"

"Make sure they're alright, I've got to go help the others!" Nolus said, and ran over to the steps to the outside.

His frantic pace caused him to miss a step on the stairs, causing him to slip and fall forwards. He managed to catch himself with his left hand, preventing a headfirst landing, but his hand twisted back and gave to his weight, popping ominously. Ligaments in his wrist stretched and tore, but the pain didn't seem to faze Nolus at first. His system was flooding with adrenaline, and it was almost like he was operating on a different level of perception. He climbed to his feet with his good and hand and topped the stairs swiftly. He raced out into the yard and scanned the area, trying to see if anyone else was injured. Venius was crouched on the ground in the same position he had been in when Nolus had gone inside the bunker, and the silhouettes of Satoria and Tamista were barely visible through a thick cloud of dark brown smoke around the area where the house once stood. Nolus sprinted over towards them, knowing that he wouldn't be able to reach Venius in his current emotional state. He knew this because a part of him was already descending into that same state, but it was still being held back by adrenaline and his steeled sense of determination to help his family.

The smoke stung Nolus' eyes and nose, and he could feel the heat of the fire that was creating it nearby. He stumbled, having caught his foot on rubble, and fell again towards Tamista. She wasn't facing him or paying attention, so there was no possibility for her to catch him as he fell, she he reached out and grabbed onto her shoulder with his good hand. She shrieked in fright and leapt out from under him, causing him to continue his tumble to the ground, albeit with less momentum. He didn't have time to catch himself again, his face smashed against a jagged edge of broken concrete causing a huge bruise on the right side of his face.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tamista yelled, turning to face him.

"I… I stumbled." Nolus mumbled. "What's that?"

Melicia bent to try to see what Nolus was looking at, but the smoke still clouded her vision. Nolus was lying on the ground below the lowest vestiges of it; it blew 4 or 5 inches above the ground in the hot wind. Nolus could see a trace of orange buried in the rubble.

"Dad? Dad!" Nolus asked, and then yelled as he crawled to his knees.

Nolus grabbed a piece of mangled steel and tried to lift it, but it was buried under hundreds of pounds of other miscellaneous wreckage. Unthinkingly he tried to call on his telekinesis to lift it for him, causing another firestorm of pain inside his skull. He moaned in pain and gripped his skull like an injured beast.

"Stop, don't try using your powers! I think there was something in those bombs like a psionic disruptor field!" Tamista said, seeing his pain.

"Ugh, I know! I just forgot ok! Now help me lift this!" Nolus snapped.

Tamista frowned at how rude he was, but didn't say anything to him. "Satoria! Over here!"

The three of them grabbed the mangled hunk of metal and lifted together, but Nolus' adrenaline high was beginning to fade and the pain in his wrist caused him to drop the debris with a sharp yowl.

"Venius, come over here and help us!" Satoria shouted.

Venius didn't respond, so Satoria stood and strode over to him swiftly. Nolus, who knew that he couldn't be of any use in the rubble, ran after her to help. He knew that they might be able to get a reaction out of Venius together. He was still clinging to the desperate hope that his father was still alive underneath all of that wreckage.

"Venius! Are you hurt or something? Venius!" Satoria shouted, grabbing him by the shoulder and shaking him.

Venius didn't respond, so Satoria stepped around to look him in the eye. "What's wrong with you, snap out of it! We need your help to dig Tanis out!"

"Don't you have eyes?" Venius suddenly yelled, "He's dead! Gone! Crushed! Do you think I'd be over here wasting time if he weren't?!"

Satoria and Nolus recoiled in terror. Disbelief coiled through Nolus' mind like a serpent, and he stepped up and grabbed Venius by the arm.

"He's not dead, now come and help me lift the rubble!" Nolus yelled angrily

"Go see for yourself why don't you?!" Venius bellowed in return, shrugging his arm violently out of Nolus' grip.

"No! I won't let you leave father under there!" Nolus shouted, and grabbed Venius by the shoulders this time

"Nolus…" Satoria said softly, trying to stop him

"Leave me alone!" Venius screamed, and punched Nolus squarely in the jaw, sending him sprawling over the grass.

Nolus, still reeling with disbelief, stumbled to his feet and gave his brother a deep scowl of hatred before sprinting back over to the ruins to try again.

"Wait Nolus, your arm!" Satoria called, running after him.

Nolus tried lifting that same steel support beam again, but this time pain erupted up and down his arm like a plume of magma. He yelled in agony and dropped it, falling to the ground and cradling his arm like a wounded child. Satoria bent over to comfort him, but he was now falling into a mental spiral of despair. He tried to reach down toward the trace of orange buried under the rubble with his good arm, whispering "No dad…no…"

A sudden whooshing sound filled the air above them, and a shadow fell over Nolus and Satoria where they sat. Nolus was too deep in despair to look up, but Satoria did and saw a small gunship descending from the west, heading straight towards them. It wasn't one of Shakara's gunships; instead it bore the symbol of the UN on its sides. It brought its laser turrets to bear, pointing directly down at Nolus and Satoria.

Satoria waved at them, hoping that they were rescuers come to help them in this disaster. She didn't notice the laser cannons beginning to glow with energy as the ship closed on their position. She was too transfixed by it to notice that Venius was sprinting up behind her as fast as he could, a look of terror on his face.

Venius leapt on top of the two of them, causing them all to tumble several feet to the side just as the gunship's lasers fired. The spot where they had been sitting was instantly incinerated, the stone blackened and the steel warped.

"What the hell? What's going on?" Satoria sobbed.

"Just run!" Venius yelled, grabbing her and forcing her to her feet.

Satoria helped Nolus to his feet and the two of them sprinted for cover, heading towards the last bunker as fast as they could. Nolus was still oblivious to it all, weeping silently in his head and mechanically running along with Satoria. They leapt down into the bunker, and Melicia ran over to them.

"What's happening out there? Where are Venius, Tanis, and Tamista?" Melicia asked frantically.

"Oh my god, the humans are attacking us!" Tamista sobbed, stumbling down the steps not too far behind them.

"Venius is still out there and Tanis….Tanis is dead." Satoria said, her voice now cracking under restrained sobs.

"Venius…Venius!" Nolus said, snapping out of his mental spiral.

Nolus broke away from Satoria's grip and climbed half of the steps to peek outside. He saw the human gunship hovering only a few body heights above the ground, in front of Venius. All four or its laser turrets pointed at Venius, glowing as they gathered charge again. Venius was simply standing there, facing the ship down like a madman with a death wish. Venius raised his arms, holding the Sol Blade in his hands, and released a primal roar of rage. In that moment the ancient blade glowed a brilliant orange and released a plume of fiery energy that rocketed up into the sky. The cloudless sky seemed to glimmer an unnatural red for a fraction of a second, and a pinpoint of glowing fire appeared in the endless blue. Within the span of a few seconds, this pinpoint of light expanded into a large meteorite, wreathed in flames, that rocketed downwards toward the gunship.

The meteorite punctured the gunship's energy fields like a sheet of Kleenex and smashed right through its hull in a glorious burst of flames. Flaming hunks of steel rained down around Venius, who still stood there holding the sword in the air like a gladiator. He finally lowered the sword as the last of the flames from the explosion cleared and all the shrapnel came to a rest in the ruins around him.

Nolus finished climbing the stairs and ran across the yard over to Venius' side. Venius walked through the rubble, careful to avoid stepping on anything sharp and jagged, until he found what he was looking for. Nolus arrived at his side and followed his gaze, seeing the charred body of the human man who had been piloting the gunship. It was impossible to tell if the man was still alive or not, his entire body was charred nearly beyond recognition. Venius didn't even bother to ascertain if he was alive or not, he began to stab the man repeatedly with the Sol Blade.

Below the burns, the man still had blood, and it spattered all over Venius' arms as he repeatedly hacked and stabbed. Venius yelled incoherently as he mutilated the man's body, releasing all his rage through the blade as Nolus watched. Nolus felt horrified as he watched Venius turn the body into a gory mess, but dared not interrupt him anymore. Eventually Venius exhausted himself and slumped over, dropping the bloody sword by his side and weeping silently.

Nolus quietly laid his hand on Venius' shoulder, doing his best to provide comfort. He turned and saw the three sisters had climbed out of the bunker to watch. Their terrified eyes reflected his own.

**Chapter XVI – SI**

**Part 1**

The checkpoint was eerily silent as Shakara strode up to the entrance of the Protectorate Administration Complex in New Celadon City that afternoon. Her escorting shuttle lifted off behind her as she peeked inside, breaking the stillness with the roar of its thrusters. The hallways were still well lit, but there was no trace of anyone anywhere. Shakara felt a strange mix of foreboding and anger as she tried to divine why her staff had abandoned their posts. Was it just simple laziness, or was there something more sinister at work here? She knew that the meeting started in less than ten minutes, so there should at least be some sign of the other council members, but the place was simply empty. Shakara wringed the fabric of her coat in her hands before pushing the door all the way open and walking in.

Walking through the empty halls, Shakara felt glad that she had decided to start carrying a pistol around with her everywhere she went. Ever since that war had erupted in Europe, she didn't feel safe walking around alone without some kind of ranged weapon. A small handheld pistol was her only option, considering that energy weapons were too large still to conceal underneath a coat, and her own natural blades made a knife or sword redundant. So, despite how primitive it was, a little projectile pistol worked best when a psionic disruptor field was present. Normally she had enough authority in the Protectorate to bypass the security scanners. After all, why would she terrorize her own organization? But it still felt odd not seeing any guards there to verify her identity. She fingered the handle of the pistol as she strode around a corner and down another hallway.

Shakara's eyes began to blur as she entered the range of the building's psionic disruptors, and she muttered a few words of annoyance while fiddling around to find her glasses in her coat pocket. She grumbled a few curse words under her breath until she finally found them and slipped them over her head, allowing the world to come back into focus. If it came down to shots, she'd need to see properly to aim. If it didn't, she'd need them to read whatever proposals the council might present to her. She adjusted them compulsively as she approached the door to the council chambers.

Shakara pressed the button on the panel to open the door and watched as it slid aside to reveal that the room was totally dark. The only light source was shining in from the hallways where she stood, and it was steeply slanted and didn't reveal anything. Shakara's suspicion immediately skyrocketed, and she stepped into the room tentatively while reaching for the control panel to find the button to turn on the lights. She found the panel, but managed to mash the wrong button with her hand, causing the door to glide closed behind her, barely missing her tail. She was now totally immersed in an inky blackness, and she could smell a loathsome burnt aroma of some kind. She fumbled with the panel some more, pondering how terrible and vaguely familiar the smell seemed. When she finally hit the right button, the fluorescent lights flooded the room and illuminated a ghastly scene of charred death. Many of the members of the Protectorate council were sitting in their seats, slumped over dead. Their bodies were covered with black burn marks, indicative of laser rifle strikes. Shakara recognized the smell now; it was the odor of charred flash and burnt hair.

Shakara's heart raced with terror as she realized what had happened here. Not all the Council members were present, only those who had been her political supporters. All her enemies, those who had voted against her at every opportunity, were conveniently absent. Most of the dead here were apparently killed executioner style with one quick shot to the back of the head, while others had multiple burns all over their bodies. There was hardly anything left but a lump of carbon in the seat where Artha Tarell normally sat. There was no doubt in Shakara's mind now, somebody had committed a Stalinesque purge, and now she had fallen into their trap.

Shakara turned and tried to get the door to open, but unsurprisingly someone had locked it down. The control panel didn't even respond to her touch. Shakara reached for her pistol and considered firing a round into the panel, but logic told her that that trick only worked in the movies and she would probably need every bullet in the clip.

A soft hiss announced that the other door on the opposite side of the room was opening, so Shakara spun on her heels to look. A dark skinned woman and two guards entered the room, accompanied by trained Houndoom attack dogs. The woman seemed strangely familiar to Shakara, but once again she couldn't quite place her. The woman smiled sadistically.

"Shakara et Benca, Archcouncil of the United Protectorate." She said "It's been a long time."

"Who are you and what the hell is going on here?" Shakara demanded furiously.

"Oh, I didn't think you'd remember me, but I'd like you to try. Think back to the time when you were traveling with you friends Tanis and Ashley. The three of you stumbled upon a hidden human rebel colony and, after staying a few days there, tried to convince the local government to let you have the gunship they had captured from Ares."

"Wait, you're that dark-skinned woman who voted against my plan! You were starving the colony and making everyone's lives there miserable!" Shakara said, the realization dawning on her.

A look of anger surfaced on the woman's face for a moment before she spoke. "My name is Jandra Chelann, and if you and your idiot friends had even bothered looking deeper than even the thinnest film on top of the situation, I wouldn't have spent 15 years in prison! All you and Tanis did was have me locked away, not even bothering to see that the other council members and I were trying to feed several thousand people on enough food to feed only a few hundred! It was called rationing, and we needed to save food for an uncertain future! But you never bothered learning the nuances of hydroponics enough to know that it's extremely difficult to grow food in an underground cavern, where there is no topsoil or natural sunlight! We had been living like that for almost 20 years before your presence lead Ares to us, and the consequences of that little foul up of yours went unnoticed and unpunished!"

Shakara clenched her hand around her pistol in her pocket, but she still refused to draw it yet. She looked directly into Jandra's eyes, trying to gauge what her intentions were.

"So, I spent 15 years in prison, and when I got out, I met a group of like minded people who called themselves the Psi-slayers. They told me that their goal was to prevent another conquest like Ares' by politically undermining you and your protectorate at every opportunity."

"You call this political undermining? I call it mass murder!" Shakara bellowed.

"Well, the organization has gotten a bit more extreme since I joined. As the ranks swelled, so did the number of people who wanted to see you and the rest of your species eliminated entirely. I couldn't just leave the group, or else I'd be tracked down and killed within a week. But I must admit: their promise that I could kill you myself has factored into my decision to stay as well." Jandra said, a devilish grin crossing her face.

"Oh please, do you think you can kill me, even with these psionic disruptors in place? I'll eviscerate you and root out the rest of these so-called Psi-slayers personally." Shakara taunted, brandishing her tail blade threateningly.

Jandra laughed and gestured for the guard to her left to hand her his energy rifle. "The Psi-slayers are much more widespread than you could imagine, Shakara. Ever since those mass graves of Ares' victims were discovered 10 years ago, the group has been growing almost exponentially. Members have infiltrated the governments of every superpower, and we even had a few undercover agents inside your protectorate. Now that the time is right, we've purged the protectorate and taken the first steps to eradicating your species."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Right now, as we speak, a squadron of Corvettes is passing over your little home and preparing to drop a payload of our specialty Psi-purge bombs. They've probably dropped all the bombs by now. Your precious family could be dead already. And here in this building, there is an entire platoon of soldiers waiting for you should I somehow fail to kill you myself. But trust me, I don't intend to fail." Jandra said, and leveled the energy rifle at Shakara.

Shakara whipped her pistol out of her coat and fired three shots in quick succession. One plugged Jandra squarely in the forehead, one struck the body armor of the left guard, and one tore through the right guard's shoulder. All three of them tumbled backwards and hit the floor hard, but only Jandra had been killed. The two Houndoom split up, one diving underneath the table and the other ducking behind the chairs on the opposite side from Shakara. Their forms seemed to melt into the shadows, making them impossible to see clearly.

Shakara backed away from the table, trying to get a fix on them so she could get a clear shot lined up. She waved the gun back and forth between the two places where she had last seen them, but saw nothing. Nothing moved as she tried to assess the situation, and several moments passed in silence. Shakara knew that without her powers she would be easy pickings for the Houndoom. Their bites packed several hundred pounds per square inch of pressure, and delivered a nasty dose of dark energy that was lethal to psychic Pokemon like her. If these Houndoom were trained especially well, it wouldn't take more than three bites to put her out of commission permanently. She needed to get across the table and pick up one of the energy rifles dropped by those guards, but if she made a move the Houndoom were sure to pounce. At the same time, if she didn't act quickly the uninjured guard would get up and shoot her. Suddenly an idea struck Shakara, and she acted on it quickly.

Shakara bent down and fired a single shot under the table in the general area where the first Houndoom had gone under. She had hoped that the shot would flush it out where she could hit it, but instead it replied to her by shooting a massive column of flames toward her from its hiding place. Shakara leapt to the side to dodge the flames, inadvertently exposing her flank to attack from the other Houndoom, which had been creeping behind the chairs toward her. It jumped out from the shadows and sunk its fangs deep into the flesh of her left arm.

Shakara screamed in agony as the dagger-like fangs crunched up the bones in her forearm, and a massive dose of dark energy surged up her arm through the wound. It blurred her vision and dulled her reflexes for a few moments, adding to the distraction of the agony from the wound itself. Shakara put the barrel of her pistol right against the Houndoom's forehead and fired her fifth round into its brain with a slightly muffled bang and a gooey splatter of angry red blood. The Houndoom's eyes lolled into the back of its head and its jaw went slack, releasing her arm. The now exposed bite wound released several rivulets of blood, which trickled down her arm in warm little trails.

The other Houndoom emerged from underneath the table, its fangs bared in rage at the death of its sibling. But this time Shakara had enough time to intercept her attacker. She turned swiftly and swung her tail in an arcing upwards motion, catching the Houndoom in mid-leap and cutting it cleanly in half, hamburger style. She had to swiftly side-step to avoid the two halves of the corpse as they came splattering to the ground, spilling blood and organs everywhere. Some of the blood spattered her, falling like an obscene rain.

At this point the uninjured guard managed to climb to his feet and point his energy rifle at Shakara. She dove for cover before the ravening beam of light flashed overhead, burning a basketball-sized scorch mark onto the wall behind the spot where Shakara had stood. Needing a quick shield from the next blast, Shakara grabbed one of the halves of the Houndoom corpse and lifted it up in front of her as she stood. The guard fired reflexively and hit the corpse, causing it to sizzle and pop under the heat. Shakara reached her pistol around it and fired her last shot, catching the guard in the side of the head and killing him instantly.

Shakara didn't waste any time, leaping on top of the table and sprinting across to grab the rifle the guard dropped. As she neared the edge of the table she saw that the last guard was struggling upright, trying to line up a shot at her. She leapt from the table and landed on his neck with both feet, sending all of her body weight onto the vertebrae in his neck. The bones gave way with a series of sickening cracks and the man made a few weak squeaks as his windpipe collapsed. Shakara stepped back off his neck and finished the job with a quick stroke of her tail blade, severing the man's head cleanly.

Now that the immediate danger was taken care of, Shakara quickly formulated a plan. She needed to teleport up to one of her interceptor ships and fly down to stop the bombers that were closing in on her family. But this building had been laced with psionic disruptors for years now, and their fields overlapped so much that she would need to cut the building's power to escape. The breakers were in the basement, which meant that she would need to fight her way down the hall to reach the stairs. If what Jandra had said about the soldiers was true, they would probably be directly between her and the stairs too.

Shakara bent over and picked up one of the dropped energy rifles, examining its type and power output. It was relatively modern and could probably kill in one shot, which was both good and bad news. It meant that she could use it to cut through their army relatively quickly, but if they all had the same model she couldn't allow herself to take a single hit. With no defense against such a powerful weapon other than her own reflexes, she would need to fight carefully and defensively.

The door opened behind Shakara and a huge swarm of soldiers poured into the room, forcing her to dive for cover under the table before they could fire their weapons at her. She tried to fire at their feet from her hiding place, but the weapon's trigger guard was designed for human-sized fingers, so hers wouldn't fit inside. She had to use her tail blade to snap the guard off, and while she was working on that the guards managed to surround the table and begin firing under it.

Thankfully the soldiers had a hard time bending over to see her in their heavy armor, so the shots blazed past her, leaving trails of burning hot air. Shakara fired her own rifle at their feet, burning through the boots and skin and sending them toppling to the floor in heaps. She felt the rifle heat up and vibrate a little in her grip, and if she held the trigger down for long it beeped an overheat warning. She drained as much power as it would give, sweeping the beam along the floor and cooking the fallen soldiers to make sure they stayed down. After a few moments she heard thumping on the table above her and knew they had jumped on top of it to avoid her fire.

A thought struck Shakara and she rolled to the side as fast as possible, a twinge of fear in her mind. A few seconds later, several concentrated energy beams burned through the table and struck the floor where she had been. She responded by turning onto her back and kicking the underside of the table as hard as she could with both feet. Since she had rolled close to the edge, it caused the table to tilt over at a sharp angle and send the soldiers tumbling to the ground. She heard them cussing and yelling as they fell on top of each other in a huge pile on the other side, and took the opportunity to leap out and fire on them. They screamed in agony and tried to scramble over each other, but Shakara held the trigger down constantly and swept the beam over each of them long enough to put them down permanently. She didn't care about honor or fighting dirty now, it was only about survival. They had shown her friends on the council no mercy, so she wasn't going to show them any either.

Shakara's energy rifle was now dangerously overheating, so she tossed it aside and picked up a fresher one. After removing its trigger guard and turning up its output level to 100, she opened the first doorway and crept into the hallway. There were multiple doors along the length of the hall, and more soldiers could appear out of any of them at any time, so she had to constantly swivel her head around and keep watch. Strangely, she made it halfway down the hallway before meeting any resistance.

Shakara heard a door that she had just passed swishing open behind her, so she swung her tail right towards it and struck an emerging soldier in the arm with her tail blade. She heard him scream and drop his rifle, and she swirled around and let loose with her own, hitting him and several other soldiers who were grouped behind him coming through the door. One in the back avoided her shot and returned fire, forcing her to stop firing to jump aside. She landed right in the arms of another soldier, who had emerged from another door quietly while she was firing. He looped his arm around her necks in a vicious headlock.

Shakara laughed internally at the man's poor choice of attack point and swept at his chest with her tail blade. Her first three strikes were blocked by his armor, but the fourth strike found its way to his groin, which was unshielded. The man screamed and let go, and Shakara stepped back so that she had a good view of both doors where the soldiers had emerged from. Three more appeared from the one on the right, but she fired her weapon quick enough to cook them before they could fire on her. Again her rifle beeped shrilly to indicate a dangerous overheat, but now she didn't have time to pick up another one and remove the trigger guard. Satisfied that no more guards would come from those doors, she continued sprinting down the hallway toward the stairwell.

Shakara saw another one of the doors on the left side of the hallway open several hundred feet in front of her and expected another group of soldiers to appear, but what she saw instead shocked and terrified her. It was a large combat robot, built as a crude structural imitation of Shakara, or at least one of her species. It had horns, a second neck, a tail, similar body structure, but no face to speak of. A single robotic eye and several different kinds of sensors stared down the hall at Shakara, cold and menacing. It also had several glowing stacks of coils on its back, which were undoubtedly additional psionic disruptors. Both arms had wicked looking energy weapons built in, and its tail was bladed just like hers. The two energy weapons on its arms began to glow menacingly and Shakara leapt for a door, hoping it would open fast enough.

The door had already been in the process of opening to allow more soldiers through, and Shakara crashed into them before they even knew what was happening. The whole group of them crashed to the floor inside the doorway, landing sprawled like bowling pins. A huge electric hum filled the air and Shakara saw bolts of plasma streak through the hall where she had been. Almost eight of them ripped past as well, at least three hitting the floor and bursting into smaller globs that splattered everywhere. A few of the smaller globs flew through the door and hit a few of the soldiers, who cried out in pain as it seared through their armor and skin. The wave of heat released by the plasma burned Shakara's skin just from proximity, and she immediately felt sickened by how hot it became in the room.

Shakara jumped off of the dog pile of soldiers, grabbed one off of the floor, and fired her rifle into the rest of them. The one she grabbed immediately hit her squarely on the bite wound on her arm, causing her to drop him, and kicked the rifle out of her hands. Shakara responded with a quick tail strike to his right shoulder, making a huge gash in his flesh. She kicked his legs out from under him and held her tail blade up against his throat.

"Tell me, what the hell is that thing out there?" Shakara demanded of him.

"That's the hunter-seeker drone! They told us that it was specially designed to kill you and your kind!" the soldier replied, his voice betraying sheer terror.

"How do I stop it?"

"How should I know? I'm just a private, not a techie! Just don't kill me!"

Shakara scowled at him and withdrew her tail. "Get out my sight!"

Shakara kicked the man in the side and sent him tumbling underneath another table, considering it a wonderful gift to him that she even allowed him to live. She reached down to grab another fresh energy rifle, but was interrupted when the hunter-seeker peeked around the corner and fired its plasma again. Shakara had to sprint for another door at the other end of the room, and the shots that missed her still severely burned her skin from their proximity. Her body was getting covered in increasingly severe burns and the pain from these and her bite wound was making her feel tipsy and sick on top of the obvious pain they caused.

The hunter-seeker obviously had some difficulty navigating indoors, because it didn't take too long for Shakara to lose it in the winding maze of rooms and hallways. At first she just ran randomly to throw it off, but once she was satisfied that she had lost it she made her way back towards the staircase. She made sure to stop along the way to pick up one more fresh energy rifle, and for awhile the soldiers seemed to have stopped coming. Perhaps the commander who was watching from afar had decided he didn't want any of his men to get in the hunter-seeker's line of fire again. She was thankful for the reprieve, and managed to make it down the stairs and into the basement without meeting any further resistance.

Though the Protectorate Administration Complex was a fairly modern facility, it was built on the foundations of a much older building that had been built even before Ares' reign. The result was a modern building with a basement made of old, worn cement blocks. The lighting hadn't been maintained very well, and many of the ancient incandescent bulbs were either flickering or dead. The humming of electricity and a distant thrum of various unknown machines filled the air. The air was dusty and dry, like that of an old attic, and it held a distinctly metallic flavor. Shakara ran past concrete support pillars and old pipes until she saw the huge set of breaker boxes bolted to a far wall. The wall was covered with various pipes filled with wiring, which spread out along the other walls and disappeared into the ceiling and floor in a very chaotic looking pattern.

Shakara began throwing switches as soon as made it within reach of the boxes. Immediately the thrumming sounds of the basement machinery ground to a slow halt and all the incandescent lights darkened at once. They were immediately replaced by a few red emergency backup lights, and Shakara reminded herself not to turn off the emergency power until she had hit all the other switches, just so she could see where they were before being plunged into absolute darkness. The pain in Shakara's arm began to intensify as she continued pulling the switches, and she could barely pull the last one by the time she got to it. The very last switch she pulled cut the emergency power, and the basement fell into utter blackness. Shakara had turned too many corners to see the light from the stairwell, and there were no windows to provide sunlight.

Shakara immediately tried to teleport, but her mind was instead plunged into agony when another disruption field amplified and reflected the psychic energy into her brain. She screamed and collapsed to the ground in pain as all the nerve endings in her head fired their pain signals. It took several minutes before the pain faded away and Shakara could recover control.

"Shit!" Shakara yelled at the top of her lungs. "I forgot about the disruptors on the hunter-seeker!"

As if summoned by Shakara, a set of faintly glowing lights appeared in the darkness a few hundred feet away. Shakara immediately recognized them; they were the glowing barrels of the hunter-seeker's plasma cannons. She scrambled to her feet and ran headlong into the darkness, desperate to escape the reaper. She looked behind her and saw the blindingly bright globs of plasma streak past, splashing the floor and walls and melting through the cables that fed the breakers. The plasma burns melted right through the wires, causing huge showers of dazzling sparks that caused Shakara to cover her eyes and turn away to avoid being blinded.

Shakara had to blink a few times before she could see again, and she was terrified to see the glimmering sensor lights on the hunter-seeker's face bounding towards her frighteningly quickly. She noticed that it wasn't charging its plasma cannons this time however, so she leveled her energy rifle, cranked its output settings to 150 and fired a continuous beam. With a click and a whirr, the hunter-seeker's arm popped open and projected a huge blue energy shield, which harmlessly dispersed the beam from Shakara's rifle and sent little splinters of light everywhere like a shattering log. It kept on running towards Shakara while holding the shield in front of itself, and Shakara had to stop firing and turn to run before it could close to tail striking range. Thankfully its energy shield emitted enough of a glow that she could see where she was going, so she could avoid running face first into a pillar or wall. She made her way back around towards the stairwell, hoping to eventually make it outside.

The hunter-seeker eventually turned off its shield to deprive Shakara of Light, causing her to trip over a cable lying on the floor and tumble to a shattering halt. She tried to climb back to her feet, but the hunter-seeker stepped down into her right leg. It wasn't heavy enough to be painful, but the steel foot seemed to clamp around her leg as if it were prehensile. Shakara saw it raising its tail to strike at her, so she raised her own to block. The two blades struck with a deafening clang, but the hunter-seeker had the incredible strength of a machine. It pinned her tail against the floor and stepped on her other leg to prevent escape, and then pointed its plasma cannon in her face and began charging it. She grabbed a hold of its arm with her had and tried to shove the cannon away, but it was scalding hot and she shrieked in pain and pulled her hand back away from it like a child who had just touched a stove. The glow of the plasma collecting in the barrel filled her vision and she finally came to grips with the prospect of meeting oblivion. She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes as the humming of the cannon filled her ears.

Shakara heard a metallic groan and felt the feet of the hunter-seeker shake violently, but oddly enough didn't feel the quick agony of the plasma burn her face. She opened her eyes to see that the beam from an energy rifle had struck the hunter-seeker in the shoulder and melted it together like putty. The glow had faded out of its cannon and it staggered backwards, releasing Shakara's tail and left foot in the process. She couldn't yet free herself completely, but she did the next best thing, she swung her tail up and struck at the hunter-seeker's face. The point of her tail blade struck with incredible accuracy, shattering the glass lens of the hunter-seeker's eye. It still didn't release her other leg, so she tried again but didn't inflict any damage. It pointed its other working plasma cannon in the general direction of where the energy beam had come from, but didn't get a chance to fire again. Its cannon took longer to charge than a beam rifle, and apparently it only had one shield to defend itself with, and that was on its now unpowered arm. A second shot from Shakara's unknown rescuer struck the hunter-seeker directly on its cannon, causing it to explode as the different plasma components were released and mixed all at once. Shakara slid herself around in a circular motion, still trapped by one leg, to avoid the rain of spilled plasma, but the temperature from the explosion added again to the burns on her body. The hunter-seeker tottered now like a tower made of toy blocks. It finally released Shakara and took a step towards its attacker, but a third shot hit it directly in the head and sent it to the ground in a smoldering heap. The glowing, coiled psionic disruptors on its back finally dimmed and died, and Shakara sighed in relief and laid her head on the ground in exhaustion.

Lying on the ground, Shakara focused her mind on her home and made an attempt to teleport straight over to save her family. She vanished for a moment, and then reappeared in the exact same with a terrible concussed feeling in her body. She immediately knew that the humans had created either a teleport inhibitor field or psionic disruptor field around her home. There was only one way left to save them now, she had to teleport up to her fleet and take a squadron of ships down.

Footsteps approached Shakara, and a human man grabbed her good arm and helped her to her feet. She couldn't see him in the darkness, but she recognized him by his voice when he spoke.

"Come on, that thing's disruptors are off. You need to teleport now and escape before the other soldiers come flooding in!"

It was the same voice of the man whose life she had spared back when the hunter-seeker had first appeared!

"Right, but first, what's your name?" Shakara asked hoarsely

"Cardan Taman."

"…Thanks." Shakara said before teleporting out of his grasp.

**Part 2**

Shakara appeared on the bridge of the protectorate flagship 'Archangel' nearly unconscious, and collapsed into whatever chair was nearest. She had teleported from a location on the surface into a ship in orbit, and such an incredibly long distance teleport drains an absurd amount of psychic energy. She could barely talk telekinetically after it; much less recover any of her extensive injuries. She yelled out for help as loud as she could, but her exhaustion was so intense that it was barely louder than a squeak.

Thankfully the bridge was heavily occupied at the moment, by both human volunteers and ex-acolytes, now called 'Sentinels', from Ares' old empire that now served under her. A huge group of them ran over and swarmed around her, several of them using their recover abilities on her in unison. The pain from her scalded skin slowly faded away and her bite wound sealed itself up under their touch, and that sickening feeling of stress and adrenaline was washed away by a flash flood of relief.

"Are you alright milady?"

"We tried to contact you but the disruptors blocked us!"

"The humans have been-"

"Yes…I know!" Shakara said with a revitalized strength in her voice. She stood up and pushed through the crowd. "Gather up a wing of gunships and cruisers and set a course for my home near the Western Johto Mountain range! Max out the engines!"

"But milady, look!" one of the Sentinels exclaimed, pointing at the main view screen.

Shakara stared at the screen in disbelief, having no words to express her shock. The screen displayed a huge fleet of human military ships in the distance, holding a steady orbit over Johto. There were hundreds of them, bristling with weaponry and undoubtedly surrounded by powerful energy shields.

"How? How how how?!" Shakara yelled, her rage boiling over. "Do _none_ of you keep an eye on the sensors? How could you not detect the construction of so many ships?! Are you all pathetically incompetent, treacherous, or just unforgivably lazy!?"

The Sentinels and humans all cringed under her vocal onslaught. "The sensors never detected them up until now, we swear upon it! They must have developed some new kind of cloaking system that can fool even psychic detection!"

"But, what about…what about…oh god." Shakara said, hiding her face in her hand for a moment. There was a short pause "Alright. How many are there?"

"52 Battleships, 87 carriers, 146 cruisers and 147 frigates for a total of 432 capital class ships."

"Unbelievable!" Shakara fumed, "To have a fleet like that, they would have had to have been building for years!"

"Look at this too." One of the human technicians said.

The view screen zoomed in closer on the fleet of human ships so that Shakara could see the allegiance logos on their hulls. She saw the flags of the Unites States, France, England, Germany, Japan, Russia, and many others. All were also adorned with the symbol of the United Nations.

"This…this is disgusting." Shakara muttered. For a moment, nobody on the bridge dared to verbally agree.

"Milady, we've already readied the ships for battle." One of the Sentinels said timidly. "Shields and weapons are charged and ready."

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Shakara said, breaking out of her emotional lockdown and telepathically projecting her words to everyone in her fleet. "We're going to charge the UN armada that's holding position over Johto. I want mixed cube formations of battleships and anti-fighter frigates in front, and carriers two lines behind. Don't scramble the fighters until we've entered effective attack range, and make sure they have constant fire support from corvette squadrons. Our primary objective is to punch a big enough hole in their formation to allow a squadron of interceptors through unharmed."

A flood of telepathic acknowledgements filled Shakara's mind, drowning out her thoughts for a few seconds. She walked over to the circular display in the center of the bridge and activated the holographic projector. After she selected a set of viewing parameters and sensor input, the air above the table shimmered to life with a huge tactical layout map. The human fleet was highlighted in red and her fleet was highlighted in green. Her ships were milling about like a cloud of insects, arranging themselves in the formations that she had ordered. The human ships were biding their time, holding position quietly and watching them prepare. A soft, low-pitched electric hum, accompanied by a few seconds of slight vibration in the floor underfoot, signaled that the Archangel had begun to move as well. A part of Shakara grinned inside, eager to see what kind of punishment it could inflict. Her darker side stirred as she watched her ships start to move in, eager for vengeance against the traitorous humans.

The Protectorate ships easily outnumbered the human armada ten to one. Their swept, silvery grey hulls shone reflectively in the sunlight and their engines pulsed a soothing azure as they closed on the human fleet. Ares had built thousands of them before his fall, and they remained relatively unchanged except for their visual overhaul. Wicked spines had been ground off, red painted over with Shakara's grey, and the symbols replaced. The newer human ships were boxier in shape, having modular design with olive drab paint. The Earth below them seemed luminescent compared to the stark blackness of space, almost like a treasure guarded by a horde of insipid goblins. As Shakara's fleet got closer and closer, their weapons arrays began charging and glowing brilliant blue. From Shakara's view on the bridge of the Archangel, they looked like sparkling blue Christmas lights in the distance, deadly yet beautiful. A few of the humans on her bridge fidgeted nervously at the sight of them.

"Calm down everyone, we're still several miles out of range." Shakara said.

Almost like they had heard Shakara's words, the lead human ships fired, unleashing a withering torrent of plasma. The huge glowing blobs traveled three times faster than should have been possible, and splashed all over the shields of the leading formations. Huge flashes of light filled the view screen as the shields tried to reflect the huge quantities of energy released, and the screen automatically dimmed itself for the duration of the blasts to prevent damaging the vision of Shakara and her bridge crew.

Panicked reports flowed into Shakara's mind immediately as the plasma faded. Her Sentinels, who had been used to guaranteed victories under Ares' rules, were terrified when they saw that just one round of plasma could drain one of their battleship's shields more than 30. Obviously the humans had been doing more than just building ships; they were honing their weapon technology considerably. Shakara felt all of their fear at once; it nearly overwhelmed her mind and drowned out her thoughts. She mentally blocked out incoming thoughts for a moment in order to transmit a new set of orders.

"All ships must immediately shut down non-essential systems and reroute all remaining power to shields and engines until reaching minimum attack range. Maintain formation shape, but spread out to standard safe distance immediately!"

Grim looks crossed the faces of the crew on Shakara's bridge; they knew what standard safe distance meant. It was the distance required between capital ships so that if one detonates, the others are far enough away to avoid being significantly damaged by the blast. They knew that Shakara was predicting losses, and that these losses would not be small.

The engines on numerous human ships blazed to life and they all lined up like shooters at a firing range. They charged their weapons again, this time staggering the order of fire so that they could setup a constant barrage. They began firing after a few more seconds and created a line of glowing blue plasma that looked like a luminescent river of sorts.

Ships of frigate size or smaller had a chance to swerve out of the way of the incoming stream of plasma bolts, but had to constantly weave in and out of formation to do so. Larger ships soaked up the volleys with their shields, but they couldn't last long. After a minute or two under constant fire, most of the lead line of battleships erupted in terrible plumes of nuclear fire. Huge showers of molten metal and deadly radiation bounced off of the shields of the ships in the next line. The debris spread like a huge obstacle course in the shape of a 3D spider web. Battleships in the next line fired their beam cannons to blast the largest hunks apart and clear the way. Smaller ships had to scatter and weave in between, leaving the once intricate formations a scrambled mess.

Thankfully, the huge pieces of debris also served as shields against the barrage of plasma from the human ships. It confused their target locking systems and blocked their shots, buying the next line of ships valuable time to close to their own effective firing range. Slowly, they surrounded the human ships in a huge spherical net and drew near enough to fire. With a sadistic tinge to her voice, Shakara gave the order.

The Protectorate ships coordinated their attacks psychically, concentrating their fire upon the biggest human ships on the outside of their formation. Hundreds, and then thousands of glowing lances of light burned the space between the two fleets all at once, striking with the precision of a surgeon's scalpel. Incredibly, the shields around these ships held, glowing a blinding blue under the intense heat. Only a handful of these ships finally gave way and exploded under fire, releasing their own clouds of flames, debris and radiation. Shakara felt a lump form in her throat; it was suddenly looking less and less likely that she could win this battle.

Both sides cut loose with simultaneous beam and plasma barrages, and the blackness of space was wholly drowned out by the glow of the energy released by the battle. The beams from Shakara's fleet sliced through the shields of the human ships after several repeated rounds and burned and melted huge holes in their hulls. Vital systems fizzled out and nuclear reactors overheated and exploded in dazzling flashes of fusion. But for all the damage Shakara's ships dealt, it was returned to them tenfold in intensity. The plasma bolts that the human ships fired liquefied plate armor nearly instantly, and multiple hits could boil a battleship inside-out and overheat the reactor to critical much easier than her beam based weapons could. The space above Johto was quickly becoming a scene of intense carnage.

Shakara had never directly commanded a fleet in combat until now, and she was horrified at the terrible screams of her Sentinels as their ships boiled with them inside. She desperately doled out orders to them psychically, trying to block out the cries from ships that were about to explode. It quickly drowned out whatever bloodlust that had been building in her mind and replaced it with an urgency to end the battle as quickly as possible to stop the death.

At that point sheer chaos broke loose as both fleets entered fighter attack range. Carriers on both sides opened up and spewed thousands of one man fighters and bombers. Anti-fighter frigates, which had been concentrating on dodging fire, now sped into the fray and began peppering the field with lasers. The fighters themselves began dog fighting viciously, each side trying to escort their own wings of bombers close enough for attack runs. Those who got in the way from plasma bursts or beams from capital ships were simply vaporized, leaving barely a trace behind as evidence of their existence. Point defense lasers mounted on the hulls of capital ships burst to life and flashed incessantly, trying to track the agile fighter craft.

Shakara watched the action silently, standing at her tactical map and grimacing at the sight of so many of her ships bursting under fire. She was trying to find a suitable target for the Archangel's fusion cannon, but was having little luck. The humans didn't have one large flagship for her to target, and their formation was spread wide enough to prevent her from striking more than two of their capital ships at once at this angle. She knew that its power was vital to punching a hole in their fleet, and if she wasted it, it could mean that she wouldn't be able to get down in time to save her family. She still refused to give up on them yet, so she ordered her ships to apply more pressure on the outer edges of the human formation, hoping to manipulate them into clustering together more tightly so she could hit them with the fusion cannon.

But the result was almost like a scene right out of one of the world wars of the old days. The humans managed to hold their lines and Shakara's ships poured into a meat grinder, being outgunned and destroyed continuously like a herd of cattle. For every one human ship they destroyed, nearly ten of theirs fell. Eventually, it got so bad that Shakara had to implement one of the back-up plans that she had never intended to use before. She quickly verified that there were no psionic disruptors active by checking in telepathically with the outermost ships of her formation, and then relayed the orders.

"I want strike squadrons of individual Sentinels to make psychic air bubbles and fly out to attack the human ships directly. You will present much smaller targets to enemy fire than fighters would, and should be able to land on and infiltrate enemy ships that have weak or no shields. Concentrate your attacks on the ships near the edge of their fleet, which have been taking the most damage."

Immediately the closest carriers and battleships opened up and released hundreds of squadrons of sentinels. Their psychic air bubbles twinkled even smaller than the engines of the fighters that swarmed around them, and they traced their way through the insanity towards the human ships with energy swords in hand. They left little contrails of psychic energy glowing behind them that traced thin lines through space, and many of the human fighters dodged and swerved around them, thinking them to be some sort of trap. Some were caught in the beams and plasma fired by capital ships and vanished out of existence instantly, while others were tracked down and plugged full of holes by the braver enemy fighters, but most managed to make their way to the human ships.

The sentinels moved with lethal speed, converging on ships that had lost their shields. They stabbed their energy swords through the plate armor and flew parallel to the hull, creating massive gashes that released huge quantities of oxygen into space. Those that suffered the most damage this way fell completely silent and lifeless as their crews suffocated to death. The ships themselves still remained brightly lit and mostly intact, but nobody was left alive inside to direct them.

The reaction from the human ships was swift and severe. Each ship of cruiser class or larger activated their own psionic disruption fields of incredible strength. Instantly all those Sentinels within range lost their air bubbles and died quick decompression deaths out there in the vacuum. Shakara felt her psychic communications slam shut as the disruptor fields reached the Archangel, forcing her to use the tactical map to issue orders from then onward. Though the Archangel's shields kept the disruptors from affecting her directly, it effectively sealed her telekinesis inside the ship. She drew courses through the 3D map with her hands to issue orders, touching ships to select them.

Shakara felt desperate now, the human fleet had barely lost half of its ships, and she was nearing the three quarter mark. Soon she wouldn't have any battleships left and they would begin attacking her carriers. She decided that it was time to use the Archangel's fusion cannon now, or else defeat was assured.

"Move us to the nearest edge of their formation and orient the fusion cannon to fire directly into their fleet at a parallel instead of perpendicular."

"But milady, if we strike them like that, the beam would only be powerful enough to penetrate the shields of the first three or four ships. We wouldn't be able to create a clear enough hole for your interceptors to penetrate!" The officer at tactical control protested.

"Listen, I plan to use the fusion cannon as a distraction. Hopefully the destruction it causes will distract them long enough for me to get through. Now get the cannon's priming sequence started, we need to fire as soon as possible!"

All the lights inside the Archangel dimmed simultaneously as its main reactors diverted their energy to the fusion cannon. Huge quantities of tritium and deuterium were released into the cannon's main reaction chamber and the containment field hummed to life with an ominous deep thrumming noise. The Sentinels gathered outside the reaction chamber and focused their psychic power into it, heating and compressing the fusion ingredients as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the Archangel maneuvered to the front of the Protectorate fleet in order to line up a shot. The barrel of the fusion cannon slid open, and light from the still growing reaction spilled out like a gigantic headlight.

This light acted like a beacon at night attracting various insects, the human ships immediately changed strategies and concentrated their fire at the front end of the Archangel. Hundreds of small one-man bombers unleashed their payloads at once, simultaneously striking the shields right in front of the fusion cannon's barrel. Dozens of bursts of plasma streaked over and smashed into the same spot, causing brilliant flashes of blinding blue and white light. Electricity crackled and boomed around the front of the ship as the shields struggled to withstand the barrage.

At that moment a group of small protectorate frigates charged into the line of fire, putting themselves right in the middle of the stream of plasma to protect the Archangel. Their shields held for a few vicious hits before buckling, and the whole group detonated after a few more hits melted right through their hulls. The molten debris leftover afterwards absorbed several more strikes harmlessly, buying the fusion cannon precious time to finish its charging sequence.

A column of orange-yellow light shone out of the barrel of the cannon as the reaction reached a level of heat and intensity close to that of the sun. The light shone across the human fleet, blinding their occupants and glowing brilliantly off of their hulls. A few seconds later, the Sentinels released their grasp on the reaction and a massive column of fiery energy burst forth from the front of the Archangel. It washed over the shields of the first human ships and collapsed them like layers of tissue paper, and went on to liquefy the hull underneath. The beam quickly lost its coherence as it smashed through numerous shields, and it spread out into a massive cloud of fusion plasma that swarmed around at list thirty of the ships on the outermost edge of their formation. The detonations of the reactors in these ships fed the flare of plasma and caused it to grow considerably, and it spread out and melted the shields off of the next line of human ships in a similar fashion. This time the view screen on the bridge of the Archangel blanked out entirely, the light emitted by the reaction was so intense that it would have destroyed the eyes of all who had witnessed it. It would be easily visible to anyone on the surface of the Earth as well, almost like there was a brand new star being born in the sky above them.

A massive rumbling shook the insides of the Archangel, and the roar of the fusion reaction being released reverberated throughout the halls. Lacking a visual confirmation, Shakara looked at the tactical map to see what the cannon had done. The sensors were still overwhelmed by the amount of energy released by the cannon, and most of her 3D map was filled with a big blind patch of glowing white. She could see that a huge segment of the human fleet had been engulfed by that patch, and she hoped that most had been at the very least disabled by the blast.

Suddenly, the sensor readout changed. The blob began to move backwards, towards the Archangel. The innermost ships in the humans' formation had gathered together and pooled their shields together. They were reflecting the fusion plasma right back t the archangel! Warning beeps filled the air of the bridge around her as the ship's temperature rose to dangerous levels, and the shields plummeted precipitously as the plasma washed over them.

"What's going on? How did they match the frequency well enough to reflect the plasma?!" Shakara demanded. Sweat began to drip down her face as the bridge became increasingly hotter.

"I don't know, our sensors are still recovering from the original blast! But shields are dropping below critical and temperature stabilizers are beginning to overload!"

"Shut down our reactors immediately before the overheat affects them!" Shakara ordered desperately.

"It's too late for that; three of them are already reaching critical levels! Shields are giving out; the hull is coming in contact with the plasma!"

Shakara hesitated for a moment, and the next breath she took felt painful on the inside of her throat because of how hot it was becoming. "Begin emergency evacuation teleports! Get everyone aboard whatever smaller ships that we haven't yet launched!"

The sentinels on the bridge nodded solemnly and teleported down to the fighter bays and escape pods, taking the human crews with them. Shakara stayed behind a little longer, hoping to catch a glimpse of what had become of the human ships. The tactical map fizzled out and the other control stations began to flicker and die as the reactors went critical, so she reluctantly followed.

Shakara reappeared in one of the fighter bays and immediately covered her eyes when the blinding light of the fusion plasma met them. Someone had already opened the doors, and a force field was the only thing between them and the raging energy storm outside. Pain streaked through her skull as the burn from the light set into her eyes, and she could hear hundreds of screams of agony around her as more of her sentinels arrived and were blinded in a similar fashion. Ominous electric crackling signaled that the force field was about to collapse, so Shakara quickly teleported again, aiming for the other fighter bay on the opposite side of the ship.

Shakara simultaneously healed her eyes as she arrived in the second fighter bay. She held her eyes shut for a moment, waiting for the light this time. It didn't even penetrate her eyelids now, so she knew it was safe to open them and proceed. She looked around desperately for a high-speed interceptor to pilot, but none remained. She was forced to board a Cougar class gunship, and was followed inside by a huge group of panicked Sentinels. They crammed into the cockpit around her as she shoved her way to the pilot's chair and flipped through the startup protocols.

Shakara saw through the gunship's window that the space outside was mostly clear; most of the plasma had clustered around the other side of the Archangel. Dozens of other gunships, fighters and life pods were streaming out of the bay around them, heading straight for the Earth's atmosphere. The light from the fusion plasma on the other side of the Archangel shone off of the hulls of other Protectorate and human ships in the distance, causing each to glow bright yellow-orange and sparkle. It would have been beautiful if it weren't for the orgy of violence that churned around them.

The gunship launched with an unnerving jolt and Shakara gripped the control sticks with white-knuckled nervousness. "We're going straight for Johto!" Shakara said with urgency in her voice. "Anyone not interested can find the airlock in the back!"

Shakara maxed out the gunship's engines and milked the bulky monster for every drop of maneuverability it could give. She weaved into the no-man's-space between what was left of the two fleets, trying to edge as close as possible toward Johto's airspace without attracting the humans' attention. The Cougar class gunship was heavier than the model she was used to piloting; it was weighted down with thicker armor and a much heftier arsenal of weapons. It was designed for coordinated assaults against frigates and handled much more sluggishly than Ares' original Glide-wing model. Fighters of both allegiances swarmed around them, and occasional potshots crashed against their shields and caused the indicator bar to drop a bit.

Shakara practically tore the control sticks out of the console as she strained to weave in between the whirling masses of fighter craft and the firing patterns of the larger ships. Whenever an enemy ship got in her way, she fired on them with every single weapon she had, totaling six medium laser cannons. Fighters didn't even stand a chance; they popped nearly instantly upon contact. Shakara felt like she could almost make it through, and hope soared in her mind as she cleared the firing path of the last few capital ships and a clear view of the Earth below swam up in her vision.

Abruptly, seven large human frigates zoomed in front of Shakara's ship, their weapons all targeting her and glowing, ready to fire. Shakara felt her heart leap into her throat.

"Leaving so soon are we, Archcouncil?" A voice crackled over the radio.

Shakara reached toward the panel to squelch the signal impulsively, but her instincts made her hesitate. She growled a reply to them instead, "Let me through! I have to save my family!"

"Don't you realize how late you are for that? The bombs were dropped at least 10 minutes ago! If you don't believe me, see for yourself!"

A picture appeared on the right side of Shakara's view screen. It was a zoomed in satellite view of her home, or at least what was left of it. Smoking craters covered the landscape, and the house had collapsed into a huge pile of twisted rubble which was burning a little in the corner. What Shakara didn't know was that the photo had been altered. It displayed complete and total destruction, despite the fact that one of the small bunkers had managed to escape intact. Someone had cleverly manipulated the photo with a digital editing program and added more craters, and even fake bodies of all the family members amongst the rubble. Shakara couldn't tell though, and she quivered with rage and despair in silence. Tears streamed down her face as she examined the picture, seeing her daughters burned alive and her cousins crushed to death.

"Your fleet is crumbling as we speak. If you'll surrender quietly right now we'll make sure that the experimenting we do on you will be as quick and painless as possible."

This time Shakara didn't resist the urge to squelch the signal. She thumbed to a different channel and tried to contact one of her own ships, but the signals were so garbled and panicked now that it was difficult to get a word in edgewise. She flew away from the frigates to escape the reach of their weapons, and tried to circumvent them while listening to the cacophony of human and sentinel voices babbling in the radio speakers.

"The enemy is firing a new weapon of some kind…sensors indicate they're fusion based explosives!"

"The Fusion charges are tearing apart line 12!"

"Their formation is moving towards the escape pods that the Archangel launched!"

"Try advancing at points 32 and 16 to intercept! Archcouncil Shakara is in one of those ships!"

"Our last ships at 32 and 16 have been flanked at their low lines and are taking major damage, it's no good!"

Shakara yelled into the microphone, trying to be heard: "I'm in the Cougar blocked by the seven frigates near point 33! I need fire support!"

The gunship suddenly shook violently as a shockwave passed over it. Shakara didn't need to turn the view screen and look to know that the Archangel had finally given up its struggle and exploded. She hoped that her commanders had been sensible enough to move to safe distance in time.

"All remaining ships fall back to the fifth marker and protect the escaping life pods and small ships at all costs!" The radio continued

"We only have 3 cruisers left anywhere near that area after that blast, and they're being targeted right now!"

"Then fall back to the Blue River! Lure them within range of the fixed defensive guns mounted on the stations we control! Spread out the remaining ships so that they can't all be wiped out with one fusion charge!"

The signal was suddenly interrupted by a terrible screeching noise and then fell silent. It was replaced by the cool, devious voice of the human man who had delivered the ultimatum to Shakara earlier.

"Attention all Protectorate ships, this is Admiral Angelo Dupree of the United Nations Coalition fleet. I am giving you all one chance to cease hostilities and surrender unconditionally. All human Protectorate members will be given new positions in their respective home countries and repatriated peacefully should they choose to surrender. Immediately shut down your engines, weapons and shields and prepare for boarding parties."

Shakara changed the channel, trying to bypass the Admiral's announcements, and was interrupted when another large group of human frigates cut her off and blocked her escape route.

"We're not going to let you escape." Another human voice sounded over the radio. "Either surrender now and live a little bit longer in our labs, or flee into the coldness of space!"

Shakara clenched the control sticks so tight that the rubber bent and threatened to snap. "Fine! If there's nothing left for me to live for here anymore, I'll take as many of you down with me as I can!"

Shakara jammed the control sticks forward and opened fire on the closest frigate, but its shields absorbed the blows with only a shudder. It replied by locking onto the Cougar with its tractor beam and towing them in whilst pounding away at its shields with single laser blasts.

"No, they can't capture us! I don't want to be experimented on!" One of the sentinels said from the back, panic in his voice.

"Goddamn it! Why don't they just fire all their guns at once and put an end to this!?" Shakara yelled, near her breaking point.

Shakara pressed the firing triggers furiously as she finally lost her emotional control. The lasers were still cooling down from the last volley though, so the only thing she accomplished was to make the control panel beep in an irritated fashion. She slammed the controls forward and the Cougar lunged, about to ram into the frigate that was tractoring it.

At that point the Sentinel in the seat next to Shakara decided to take action. He caught Shakara off guard and psychically paralyzed her with a quick twitch of his wrist. He telekinetically lifted her out of the pilot's seat and scooted over to sit in it himself.

"What do you think you're doing?! You paralyzed the Archcouncil!" One of the other sentinels protested, obviously terrified. "That's treason!"

"I'm sure she will be lenient when she realizes that I'm doing this to save her life! Make sure the paralysis holds and send some of your energy to reinforce the shields! If they fail then the disruptors will hit us and we'll be powerless!"

The nameless Sentinel twisted the controls around and gunned the engines straight away. He simultaneously locked the Cougar's lasers to point into the tractor beam and input a new frequency setting for the shields. All seven lasers fired just as the shield's frequency reset, and the combination of these two factors broke the tractor beams' hold on the gunship. They zoomed away briskly, out-speeding the frigates by a considerable factor. For a moment, it was silent in the Cougar's cockpit.

"What now? The fleet is shattered and we have no other home to retreat to!" A third Sentinel inquired suddenly.

"I'm taking us to the Blue River! We're going to ride the river and hide on another world until everything calms down!" The first Sentinel replied.

"And how long will that take? Months? Years? Who can predict the kind of planet we'll be stuck on?"

"I can, because I plan on landing us on Hypalia!"

There was a short silence as the other Sentinels digested what he had said. Large expanses of empty space still stood between them and the Blue River. A few retreating Protectorate ships were visible in the distance, speeding away as fast as their engines could allow.

"But…what about the non-interference accord? The Archcouncil would have us stripped of all rank and dishonored for violating such an important law, especially one she helped create herself!"

"I know enough about the humans to know that it was one of the very few laws that they agreed upon unanimously, so they may just honor it if we manage to reach the planet without them knowing! We'll hide in some remote corner of the planet where none of the natives could reach too."

"I served on Hypalia before, under Lord Ares before the Archcouncil took the empire from him. I know of a place where we could hide!" One of the other Sentinels piped up. "It's a place in Dantun called the Dead Lands. It is a huge expanse of desert, so large and barren that nobody has dared venture deep into it since the war with Dantun before Lord Ares' fall."

"What about food and water?"

"We can put ourselves in stasis pods when we get there. Set them to wake us up after a few years."

The Sentinel at the controls nodded. "That's where we'll go then!"

He looked down at Shakara, who was now lying on the floor, curled up in the fetal position as was normal of a victim of psychic paralysis. She couldn't sob anymore because of the grip it had on her, but her tear glands still worked perfectly. They poured tears down her face as she lay there broken, wishing that she could have at least had the chance to hug her daughters one last time.

**A/N**: The death of Tanis, and Shakara's ultimate defeat and exile here mark a major turning point in the story. Right now we're at the 121 page mark for Book I of the Four Mirrors, which is a little bit bigger than the standard book size for CotP or Legacies. But there is still quite a lot more to be told here before we move on to Book 2, at least another good 30 pages. So stick around readers, this defeat is far from the end of the story. The next few chunks will be make-or-break for the 4 brothers, and we'll actually get to see where this story gets its name from!


	10. Part I: Brotherhood : Chunk 9

**The Four Mirrors**  
Sequel to 'Legacies'

By MMM/AJ

_This third and final installation of the series is dedicated to Katie. My biggest fan, my best supporter/helper, and my closest friend._

**A/N:** This chunk is specifically dedicated to all of my fans where were saddened by Tanis' death. I'm glad that you loved him so much, and I'm sorry that that I had to kill him off like that. Don't worry though, he might get a quick reappearance in the future in spirit form.

**Chapter XVII – OIV**

_Medical science has made amazing leaps and bounds both during and after the reign of Ares. During his rule, Ares made it a priority to carefully study the physiology of their race. His scientists used the most advanced scanning equipment and super-computers to map the nervous system down to every single neuron in an attempt to better understand their psychic powers. Their cybernetics department benefited tremendously as a side effect. With every single nerve fiber mapped all the way to their input location in the brain, scientists were able to hook artificial implants up to the nervous system with such accuracy that these implants could send sensory input to the brain just like a normal limb. The results were prosthetics with pressure and temperature sensors that could nearly perfectly mimic the touch sensing abilities of normal limbs._

The first thing that came to Opulous as he crept into consciousness was a set of terrible searing pains all over his body. His face, shoulder, and tail all screamed at him at once, almost like they had been crushed. He felt as if he had died and been dragged down into the pits of hell for torture, except that his eyes were still closed tightly and he couldn't see anything.

Then the pain began to slowly fade away, it was replaced by a soothing wave of cool relief that seemed to come out of nowhere. For a few moments, a soothing numbness filled his left side, causing a respite in the tenseness of his muscles. Next he felt a strange tinny feeling in his left arm and tail. It was an indescribable, unfamiliar feeling that was almost like a chilled tingling, but it didn't tickle at all.

Then he realized something on top of all this, he was floating suspended in liquid! He opened his eyes and immediately recognized the inside of one of the medical capsules in his father's med-lab. He also immediately noticed a funny quality in his vision, almost like a thin light blue filter on a camera lens. He blinked his left eyes, and the blue went away for a moment. He lifted his left arm up to feel his face and what he saw made a spurt of adrenaline course through his system in shock. He had a cybernetic arm! His regular flesh and blood arm was gone, replaced by cold, smooth steel. He tried to turn his head to see where it melded with his body, but monitoring wires attached to his head and body restricted his movement. His breath quickened, but oxygenated liquid moved much more sluggishly than air and it made him feel like he was suffocating. He began to thrash around inside the capsule in panic, and his tail struck the glass wall and broke right through it.

The oxygenated life support fluid quickly drained out of the hole that Opulous' tail had made, and the drains in the bottom of the capsule opened up as the whole thing performed an emergency shutdown. Opulous spewed the fluid out of his lungs and coughed violently to expel the last few remnants of it as the doors of the capsule swished open. He fell to the floor of the capsule, still hacking up more of the fluid, and heard the dull clack of metal on concrete when he caught himself with his new arm.

"Opulous, are you alright?" Melicia's voice said out of the blue.

Opulous looked up and saw Melicia hurrying across the room towards him. He noticed something bizarre and slightly unnerving in his vision, there was some sort of readout above her head when he looked at her! Vital signs like pulse and temperature blinked above her, and a little reticule-like object pointed at her. She reached down to help him up, and he reached up and pawed at the air where he saw it.

"What's wrong?" Melicia asked, seeing him waving his new steel hand in the air near her head.

"I see something…almost like a phantom sensor readout hovering over you…" Opulous said quietly.

Opulous blinked forcefully a few times, and the readout disappeared. "Now it's gone!" he added.

"That must be a function of your new cybernetic eye." Melicia said.

"New cybernetic eye?" Opulous whispered in shock.

Melicia gestured towards the glass of a nearby capsule, and Opulous walked over and stared in awe at his reflection. A whole third of his face was gone on the left side, replaced by a sleek layer of light blue steel. The metal had been molded to match the shape of the face nearly perfectly. It was segmented to appear fluid and organic, almost like reptile scales except larger and less regular in shape. His left eye was gone as well; it had been replaced by a cybernetic one that was the same shape and color as his original eye. It was made from delicate glass lenses and a mildly glowing purple pupil made of the finest flexible silk-steel. He could see it move and adjust as he focused, and when he blinked he saw an eyelid made of the same smooth silk-steel close over it. He also caught a glimpse of his tail in the reflection and saw that it too had been removed and replaced with a robotic version.

Opulous brought his tail around and stared at it intently, now more fascinated by the amazing technology than scared or shocked. His new tail was segmented too, made from rings of interlocking steel. He looked specifically in between each of these rings and studied the joints, which were made of powerful yet flexible bands of silk-steel that apparently acted like muscles. This gave him the exact same range of motion that he had had before; it was a miracle of technology that he had only read about before. Barely visible along the length of the artificial tail, several small blue LED lights glowed from inside like runways.

"This is amazing!" Opulous said in a hushed voice as he flexed his new limbs, which barely made any kind of noise.

"Aren't you upset that you lost your real limbs?" Melicia asked, looking confused and upset.

"Not really." Opulous replied, fascinated by the flexibility of the robotic appendages. "But what happened to them anyway?"

Melicia looked away suddenly, staring down at the floor with fresh tears in her eyes. Opulous suddenly noticed that her eyes were bleary, damp and red from recent sobbing, and the readout appeared over her head indicating a quickened pulse and increasing stress levels. He walked up to her and tried to look her in the eye.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Melicia squeaked in sorrow, her voice cracking a few times before she spoke. "A bunch of human ships attacked us. They carpet-bombed out entire yard, destroying the house and all the bunkers except this one."

Opulous felt as if his blood had frozen in his veins, at least in the still organic ones anyway. He grasped Melicia's shoulder tightly with his organic arm and asked "What happened to the others then? Where is father? The brothers?" he demanded.

"Cygnus got caught with shrapnel and nearly died from a punctured heart, but we managed to get him to one of these capsules in time. Venius, Nolus, and my sisters and I made it through unharmed, but…"

"But what of my father and your mother?"

"They're both dead." Melicia choked as more sobs welled up in her.

Opulous let go of Melicia and stood these dumbfounded, trying to comprehend the loss. She reached up and clamped her arms around him, seeking comfort as the sobs came freely. Opulous returned her hug silently, still shocked silent by what she had said. He couldn't believe father was gone, it felt like he had been talking to him only hours ago before going down to the research bunker to study. It struck him as bewildering, even incredulous that someone could be there one moment, and gone the next. Where was his sense of security, if life could be so cruelly cut short? He felt Melicia's tears running down his shoulder and wondered if his new eye could cry as well. They stood there that way for a long time, sharing their sadness and comforting each other as best as they could

Eventually Opulous broke the mournful silence to speak, "Where are the others now?"

Melicia hacked on the sobs to stop them so she could speak. "They're in…they're out in…Venius took them up into...into the mountains to hide. I v-volunteered to stay here with you…with you until you were well enough t-t-t-to leave the capsule." Melicia stammered incoherently.

"How long have I been in there?" Opulous asked.

"N-n-nearly a day and a half." Melicia said, getting her stutter mostly under control.

Opulous felt awestruck again, he hadn't even known that he had been stuck in there until now. It wasn't like sleep, when you could vaguely feel time passing, even if it was at an accelerated rate. He had been out so cold that it was like he had skipped forward in time.

"You've been in here watching me the whole time?" He asked.

"Yes. The readout on the med-bay kept saying you were in a kind of coma, and it couldn't tell me how long before you woke up. The others brought me food and water yesterday, but Venius says he only has so much stored away in his mountain hideout. He said that if you didn't revive soon, we'd have to leave you behind!" Melicia said with disdain in her voice.

"It's alright, I understand. But please tell me, why was I put in the med-bay instead of psychically healed?"

Melicia frowned. "Those bombs had some kind of horrible energy pulse in them. It burned out the parts of our brains that control psychic energy, leaving all of us powerless. We had to put you and Cygnus in the bays and they gave you the artificial limbs. When Cygnus came out of his med-bay though, he had all his powers back. The machine had performed a very minor surgery on his head too to heal that part of his brain. He then psychically recovered the rest of us so we could regain our abilities too, but by then your new limbs had already been fully attached. The readout warned us not to open your pod before it was done, so I stayed behind to watch you."

Opulous smiled. "Thank you. I suppose we should go back and see the others now?"

Opulous and Melicia walked out of the bunker and flew together up the nearby cliff face towards Venius' hideout. It was dark out now, and the sky was beautifully clear above them. Their home had always been far away enough from any cities to avoid light pollution, but there was something about the crispness of the stars tonight that caught Opulous' eye. He stared up at them and noticed that he could see them with much greater clarity with his new cybernetic eye. He picked a single star out of the thousands and stared at it intently, letting Melicia lead him by the hand. Suddenly his new eye zoomed in considerably on the star as he concentrated on it, acting like some sort of telescope. It zoomed in strong enough for him to see that it wasn't really a star at all, but a large human ship in orbit above them, its engines glowing brilliantly. Again a readout appeared next to it, telling him the size, class, and allegiance of the ship. It was an American carrier, and it was heading east several hundred miles per hour. He watched it until they arrived at the cave entrance, at which point his eye zoomed out back to normal vision.

After crawling through the narrow tunnel at the mouth of the cave, Opulous and Melicia emerged into the main chamber, which had apparently been turned from an impromptu study hideaway into an impromptu home. Opulous had been in the hideout once before when Cygnus and the others had been arrested, and back then it had been sparsely furnished with a comfy armchair and some lighting. Now there were blankets crumpled up everywhere, in corners and against the walls. He saw his brothers and cousins all there, all either sitting or laying down to rest. Venius was lying on a blanket asleep on the floor, Nolus was sitting in the armchair, Cygnus was sitting by the wall, and Tamista and Satoria were standing together talking next to a new mini-fridge. They stopped talking and rushed over when they saw Opulous.

"We thought you might never wake up!" Tamista said, clamping her arms around him.

"You were so badly torn up when we found you! We thought for sure that you would never survive!" Satoria added, hugging him too.

Opulous felt flushed at their expressions of affection, he hugged them back but couldn't think of anything to say.

"Shhh, don't wake Venius." Cygnus said softly, standing from his seat and walking over to them.

The sisters still clung to Opulous, and he noticed something amazing as they did. Both his arms, even the cybernetic ones, could feel them pressing against him.

"Hold on a second…" Opulous said, pushing himself free from their grasp.

The sisters looked slightly hurt at how rough he shoved them, but he was overwhelmed with curiosity. He held his new arm up in front of them and laid his regular one on top of it heavily. Amazingly, he could feel it, just like normally! He tried knocking on his knew arm with his knuckles, and he could feel that too! His curiosity and amazement peaked, so he turned around and slammed his new arm against the stone wall of the cave. Surprisingly it didn't hurt, but he could feel the rough texture of the stone and the pressure with which he had hit it. The others winced painfully and Venius bolted upright in terror.

"They're coming back for us!" Venius cried out, jumping up and running for the cave's exit.

"No Venius, calm down! It was just Opulous!" Cygnus said anxiously, grabbing and restraining Venius to keep him from bowling everyone over on his way to the exit.

"Opulous! I have to save him! I have to…" Venius trailed off. He blinked his bleary eyes a few times and stared around for a few moments. "Oh."

"Nightmare?" Cygnus asked.

"…Yeah." Venius mumbled. "…Good to see you awake again Opulous."

Venius trudged back over to the blankets he had been sleeping in and laid back down silently, having nothing else to say.

"Why did you bang your arm against the wall like that?" Nolus asked curiously. "You didn't dent or scratch your new arm did you?"

Opulous looked at the arm and saw a tiny scratch. "Because I wanted to test something. This is one of those arms dad told us about in science class, it has the same kind of hyper-advanced neural cybernetics that integrate so well with the nervous system, allowing it to feel sensations just as well as a normal arm. And yes, I think I did scratch it a bit." Opulous said.

Cygnus grinned widely and slugged Nolus lightly on his good shoulder. "There's the geek I know and love! Always doing absent-minded experiments at the least appropriate times."

Satoria suddenly clamped onto the both of them in another hug. "I'm so glad, to finally see someone smile again." She said with tears forming in her eyes.

Opulous felt a little awkward, he never really hugged anyone very often, especially not in groups. It was warmly reassuring though, so he returned it as best as he could.

**Chapter XVIII – CV**

Cygnus stood alongside his brothers and cousins in the diffuse sunlight and looked on sadly as the funeral began. A single, mostly intact slab of concrete had been chosen from the wreckage of their home for the service, and a large heap of branches and kindling had been piled on top of it. Underneath the wood rested the last few remnants of their father, which Opulous had reluctantly dug out from under the rubble. They had all agreed that cremation was the most honorable thing for Tanis, and Cygnus and Opulous had built the pyre together.

Slowly Cygnus stepped forward and raised his hand. A flicker of pyrokinetic flames appeared in his palm, and he lowered them down to touch the tinder. The fire started out small and harmless looking, but quickly spread across the browned leaves and wood to consume as much as it could. Cygnus took a few steps back to his place between Nolus and Venius to watch the fire as it grew. The smoke curled and shuddered as it rose into the sky above their wrecked home, and Cygnus felt tears coming again. He steadied his voice as best as he could before clearing his throat to speak.

"Dad, you were the bravest and most loving person I ever knew." He began, his voice still a little unsteady. "Every day, since I was a little kid and my memories were foggy and unclear, you were there to help me. From the time I broke my knee playing swordfight for the first time, to the time I failed my first exam, you were there to help. I know that I was never really as smart as Opulous and the others, and that must have been a disappointment to you, but you never once turned your back on me when I needed your help. You helped me study, defended me to the last in court when I broke the law in New Saffron City, and even helped me recover after the trauma I endured in their prison."

By now the fire had grown to full size, it burned brighter than what little sunlight was filtering through the thick clouds that filled the sky above them. A bitterly cold autumn wind blew around them; it sent chills along their bodies and made the fire bend over like a penitent monk. What few leaves that remained in the trees fell around them, and Cygnus continued.

"There isn't much I can say to do your memory justice. You did more things in your lifetime than I ever could dream of: battling Ares and saving three different worlds. I know I'll never fill your shoes completely, but I want you to know that I'll try my best. I'm going to live the rest of my life to the fullest and carry you in my memory in the hopes that it will inspire me to do as well as you did. I'll miss you dad, but I know that wherever you are now, it's a better place."

Cygnus looked at his brothers as he finished, and he saw that all of their faces were streaked with tears. Opulous only had one; his robotic eye was incapable of producing them. Melicia had clamped her arms around Opulous again, sobbing openly almost as if she were providing substitute tears for him. Cygnus gestured to them to indicate that it was their turn to pay their respects.

Opulous spoke next. "Dad, you were always a role model to me, and the quality of yours that I admired most was your intelligence. You built everything from an energy channeling system for the Blue River to an antiviral nano-robotic treatment system. I idolized you for it, and for my entire life, I strived to be as intelligent as you. I was always spending my time huddled over my desk, studying into the wee hours of the morning and gobbling up as much knowledge as my mind could hold. But now I realize that maybe it was somewhat of a mistake. I never spent as much time with you as I should have. When you were out playing Holoball or Swordfight with the brothers, I stayed inside to study. Whenever you had one of your music parties, I stayed home to study. I never really was as close to you as the others, and now that you're gone it fills me with pain of regret. I'll never get another chance to play a game of Holoball or anything else with you again."

The fire was beginning to die down a little bit now, and Cygnus felt a few icy raindrops splatter on his head and shoulders. He started to cry like his brothers now, openly and freely, as Opulous continued.

"Cygnus said it well when he talked about your memory though. I'm going to follow his example and carry it around inside my heart and mine for as long as I live. Every great thing about you that inspired me as a child will live on, and every loving thing you ever did for all of us will be remembered."

Opulous bowed his head gently to indicate he was finished. He closed his eyes and all seven of them remained silent for several minutes before Nolus began to speak.

"I don't really have much to say." Nolus said, stuttering slightly. "The others summed it up pretty well I think. But there's more I can add."

Nolus paused a moment as if willing up the courage to say something. "Opulous always admired your intelligence, but what always struck me as your greatest quality was your selflessness. From the beginning you dedicated yourself to helping others as much as you could. You spent so much time and effort helping put a stop to Ares' cruelty, and you never lost sight of the smaller things along the way. You cared for the people whose lives you touched, and you even cared for all the Pokemon you ever met, no matter how insignificant or weak they might have been. When three of Ashley's Pokemon were slaughtered by Ares' Acolytes, you helped her give them a respectful burial and service, when other people might have regarded it as inconsequential. You never ate meat during your life and strived to teach us not to as well. Just like Opulous, I idolized you and vowed to live up to the standard you set.

Nolus paused again. "I remember the time when Venius got attacked by those humans out on the forest trail. I never told you, but I was there listening when you had that terrible fight with Aunt Shakara afterward. I saw the anger that you and she were capable of, and it tore apart my childish visions of your perfection in a heartbeat. It left me terrified that you might get in a fight with her again for many years of my childhood, and many times I tried to put myself between the two of you if you looked like you were getting upset with her. One time you asked me why I did this, and I lied. I told you that I just hated fighting. Though that's not untrue, I was always scared that you might find out that I had eavesdropped on you that night. There was always a part of me that wanted to apologize for it, and now that I've lost my chance, I can only say it now after the fact. I'm sorry Dad."

Nolus finished his speech, and another few minutes of silence followed. It was obviously Venius' turn, but he refused to say anything. The mood of sadness was so heavy upon their hearts though, that they didn't really care whether he said anything. They were all too absorbed in their own mourning to notice.

The rain had begun to intensify now, and the fire quickly died down as it finished burning what was left. Once the fire died, Cygnus used his telekinesis to collect the ashes and gather them into a small golden jar. The jar had been a gift from Kalana, emblazoned with the symbol of the Hylian Royal Family and embossed with a blessing in Hylian script. He sealed the ashes in the jar and led his family across the yard, away from the pyre and toward the rock face west of where the house had stood. They traveled parallel to the cliffs, passing bare trees, until they found what appeared to be an old cave that had been sealed by a lava flow that had cooled and hardened. To the right of the old cave entrance was the memorial that Tanis had built for his father, Mewtwo. It was a single marble pillar with a golden placard on top that read "In dedication to Mewtwo. Father, Mentor, Hero."

Tanis had never told his sons where he wanted to be buried, so they had chosen for him. Somewhere in the depths of this sealed cave laid the sarcophagus where Mewtwo had laid himself to rest. Cygnus handed to jar with Tanis' ashes to Opulous, who was scanning the inside of the cave with his cybernetic eye. After a few moments, Opulous found a satisfactory open area in the cave near Mewtwo's resting place and teleported the jar there. It vanished out of his hands with a tiny blink of blue light, and it finally sunk in for Cygnus that his father was truly gone. He cried again, harder than ever before.

Opulous teleported over a slab of marble from the remains of their old house with another blink of light. He held it in the air in front of them and psychically carved it into a handsome pillar. He firmly anchored the pillar to the ground right beside Mewtwo's memorial as well, and then teleported a chunk of metal over from the ruins as well. They didn't have any sheets of gold to use in Tanis' memorial, so he used a piece of polished steel instead. He psychically affixed it to the top of the pillar and embossed the words "Here lies Tanis. Mentor and guide, liberator and champion. Only ever equaled in greatness by his father."

The group stood silently for several more minutes, each paying their own silent respects. The sanctity of their mourning was interrupted however, by a distant whooshing noise that signaled the approach of a ship. Suddenly panic-stricken, Cygnus turned to scan the skies, and raindrops spattered his face and splashed into his eyes. He couldn't see very much though, with the cliff face filling his vision on one side and the trees on the other.

"Can't you leave us to mourn in peace?" Venius bellowed, now consumed in fresh rage. "Why don't you just leave us alone?!"

The ship finally appeared above them, but it wasn't a military ship of any sort. It was a small unmanned drone, silvery in color and about the size of an albatross. It turned a sharp corner to avoid striking the cliff face and made a few clicking noises before zooming around and vanishing back over the treetops.

"What in the world was that?" said Satoria, her voice tinged with fear.

"It was a spotter drone." Opulous said coldly. "Something has been looking for us, and obviously it just found us."

The seven of them exchanged nervous looks, and Cygnus nodded knowingly. He ran back towards the house and the rest of them followed, adrenaline coursing through all their veins. When they passed the tree line and the ruins of the house came into view, a terrifying sight met their eyes. There were four huge robots digging through the rubble of the bunkers on the other side of the yard, searching for something.

None of them had ever seen anything like the hunter-seekers; they hadn't had any experience with them like Shakara had at the Protectorate Administration Complex. They froze in place and all stared slack-jawed as the hunter-seekers turned to look at them. A moment later, that same little surveillance drone appeared and flew over to the farthest hunter-seeker, whose back opened up to admit it inside. All four of the robots turned to face them now, pointing the barrels of their plasma cannons at them and charging them.

Cygnus suddenly felt sick to his stomach and immediately recognized why; the robots had activated their own psionic disruptors.

"Run for it!" Cygnus yelled at the top of his lungs and dove into the trees.

Cygnus saw the others following around him in his peripheral vision and heard a terrible electric hum as the plasma cannons on the arms of the robots fired. The plasma splashed over the dry tree trunks and immediately ignited them; causing flames to sprout up everywhere they touched like orange flowers. The sizzling of the plasma as it hit the earth was much louder than the popping of the flames though, and the smell of smoke assaulted Cygnus' nose as he ran. He sprinted blindly through the trees, not caring where he ended up as long as it was as far away from those robots as possible.

"This way!" Venius' voice boomed through the trees to Cygnus' left. He immediately changed course to follow.

Cygnus was the first to reach Venius, and the two of them ran together through the bare, whip like branches.

"We've got to get around those 'bots and reach the Sol Blade!" Venius yelled. "I left it inside the bunker!"

"Shakara always kept some energy rifles stored in there too!" Cygnus added.

Together they ran until Venius signaled that they had come around to the proper position. Nolus, Satoria and Opulous caught up with them swiftly and Venius gave the signal for utter silence.

Venius peeked out of the trees and Cygnus followed. They saw that the hunter-seekers were stumping across the lawn towards the trees where they had last been seen, leaving an open path to the bunker. Once the hunter-seekers had vanished into the foliage, the four of them made a break for the bunker.

They made it three-quarters of the way to the bunker entrance before one of the hunter seekers re-emerged from the trees, having sensed their haphazard dash. It fired a cluster of plasma bolts at them, forcing them to leap down the stairwell for cover. Cygnus felt the concrete floor scrape the skin of his elbows and knees violently, and huge bruises appeared in many other places. He scrambled to his feet and dashed across the room towards the little steel cabinet where Shakara always stored spare weapons. The combination of the digital lock slipped his mind as he frantically tapped the buttons. It beeped harshly at him and refused to open.

"Hey Venius, gimme the sword for a second!" Cygnus shouted.

Venius handed him the Sol Blade and he gripped it firmly and took a stout swing at the locking mechanism on the weapons cabinet. It smashed apart with a shower of sparks and several bulky grey energy rifles tumbled out. Cygnus returned the sword to Venius and picked one up. It was extremely heavy and cumbersome; Cygnus knew that it would tire his arms out if he had to lug it around for as long time. He flipped the power switch on and cranked the output knob to maximum, fully aware that it was probably an older model and more prone to overheats.

Venius yelled a string of panicked profanities and Cygnus spun around to see what had elicited them. One of the hunter-seekers was standing at the top of the stairs, blocking the only entrance to the bunker. Its plasma cannons were beginning to glow as it recharged them.

Cygnus did the first thing that came to mind; he pointed his energy rifle at it and fired. But the hunter-seeker's left arm popped open and emitted a beautiful blue dome shield that dispersed the beam easily.

"Come on you stupid sword! Call another meteor!" Venius growled and pointing the Sol Blade at the hunter-seeker, waggling it like a video game controller.

Cygnus saw a flash of movement behind the hunter-seeker and heard a loud crash. Its shield flickered sickly for a moment and its body shuddered, and Cygnus felt a miraculous feeling wash over him. The psionic disruptors had been deactivated or destroyed somehow! He tossed the useless energy rifle aside and teleported outside, behind the hunter-seeker. He created an orange energy sword and decapitated it with a single clean stroke. The neck stumps sizzled dangerously and it collapsed to the bunker floor with a terrible cacophony of clangs.

Cygnus scanned his surroundings and immediately saw what had destroyed the psionic disruptors on the back of the hunter seeker. It was a Pokemon, Absol to be specific, and Cygnus recognized it as one of the Pokemon that Asha owned. It had apparently sliced through the unprotected coils on the back of the hunter-seeker with the crescent shaped blade on its head. It gave him an affectionate, familiar smile.

Cygnus caught sight of the other hunter-seekers re-emerging from the forest, they were falling back under the assault of Asha's other Pokemon. Cygnus saw her Skarmory flying in circles and slashing at one hunter-seeker's shields, her Arcanine spewing jets of flame at another, and her Espeon teaming up with her mother's Vaporeon and Jolteon against the last one. The shields effortlessly held off their attacks until Melicia and Tamista teleported behind them and blew them to pieces with shadow balls.

Nolus, Opulous, and Satoria emerged from the trees; they had stayed behind when Cygnus and Venius made their dash toward the bunker. Asha appeared out of the trees farther to their right and ran straight towards them while shouting.

"Are you guys ok?" She bellowed.

Tamista and Melicia floated over to join the group, and Asha's Pokemon gathered around them protectively, keeping their eyes open in case more robots attacked.

"Asha, what in heaven's name are you doing here?" Nolus asked bewilderedly.

Asha came to a stop in front of Nolus and gave him a pouting look. "That's some way to treat the one who saved your life!"

Nolus sighed and gave her a look that seemed to scream "You could have died you crazy girl!" Then he smiled and put his arms around her warmly. "Thank you Asha, thank you.

"Now tell me what the hell happened here! What were those robotic versions of you doing attacking you? What demolished the house? Where are Tanis and Shakara?"

The seven siblings fell silent and looks of sadness returned to their faces. Asha stared at them each in turn, first confused and then horrified.

"Oh no!" Asha whispered in silent terror. "They're not…Even Shakara?"

"We're still holding out hope for my mom!" Satoria burst out, "She wasn't even here when the bombs fell!"

"That's right!" Tamista added, "She had left for her Protectorate Summit this week. She might have been in transit or safe in her Protectorate complex when the attack occurred!"

"She's probably in hiding right now, or trying to find a way to reach us without being discovered by the humans!" Melicia finished.

Asha had a terrible look of sadness on her face. Nolus immediately stepped gave her a second hug, this time not letting go right away.

**A/N:** I've gotten several comments lately from people who have wanted there to be some kind of revenge against humanity for what they did to Tanis and his family. I feel the need to remind everyone that it wasn't all of humanity in general who were responsible for this, but mainly the Psi-Slayers and their supporters. And while I DO plan on having a major revenge occur, I'm afraid you guys will have to wait awhile for a truly satisfying one. Venius will have a try at it next chunk, but the true revenge won't happen until near the end of Book II.

Also, I would have gotten this chunk to you a little sooner, but I was struggling with the ending. I guess I'm still not satisfied with it, but I really wanted to get this one out sooner for you guys since the cliffhanger was especially painful. One guy (you know who you are!) actually said he would commission me to finish if he had the dough! I guess that level of flattery made me write a little faster, until I got stuck on the ending. But enough rambling, I'm gonna go get started on Chunk 10! Later!


	11. Part I: Brotherhood : Chunk 10

**The Four Mirrors**  
Sequel to 'Legacies'

By MMM/AJ

_This third and final installation of the series is dedicated to Katie. My biggest fan, my best supporter/helper, and my closest friend._

**A/N:** I finished this chunk in record time not because my friend offered to pay me, but because it was so fun to write. When there's no writer's block to stop me and everything flows smoothly, I can write pretty fast. It's just that normally there's always one little block to trip me up. Not this time though! Anyway, this chunk is just one huge Venius chapter split into 3 parts. Hope you enjoy!

**Chapter XIX – VV**

**Part 1**

Life had become incredibly lonely for Venius now. It had been three days since his brothers and cousins had left; he was living alone in his cave now. Cygnus and Nolus had gone to live with Asha and Ashley, Opulous had gone on a journey of self discovery, and the three sisters had gone to search for their mother in Kanto. The brothers had tried to get Venius to come with them, but he couldn't bring himself to leave his old home yet. They had warned him that more hunter-seekers were bound to show up, but he was confident that they could never find his cave since it was so high up a sheer cliff. Since then he had discovered that there was a different enemy he would have to face if he stayed there. It was much more powerful and dangerous than the hunter-seekers, it was called loneliness.

During those three days, Venius hadn't actually spent too much time in the cave. He spent many hours walking in the forest that surrounded his home, ruminating upon the meaning of his life and its impermanence. When he wasn't walking like this, he would sit in the remaining bunker to read through all the documents in its computers. These logs were mostly written by Tanis and Opulous, so for Venius it was as close as he could get to his father anymore. Originally he had hoped to find something like a journal or personal log that his father had written, but unfortunately all documents like that had been stored in the computers in the house. The house had undoubtedly crushed all those computers when it collapsed, so Venius was left with medical research to read instead. He read them with intensity as if they were gripping mystery novels, and this had the unintended side-effect of teaching him more about medical science than he had ever known before. He had never paid this much attention to science when his father had been teaching it to him face to face. The cruel irony of it made him feel terrible, but he kept reading and learning anyway. Every hour that Venius spent out of his cave was gambling with his life, hunter-seekers could jump him at any time. He didn't really care though, he felt empty without his family and he still couldn't leave.

Near nightfall on the fourth day, Venius spent an hour of silence at his father's memorial. He still couldn't bring himself to call it a gravestone; it was too grim to think about. He kneeled in front of it silently and meditated on his memories of him. The sky quickly melted from orange to purple to black as he sat there. He hadn't meditated in a long time; Nolus had taught him to do it when they had been 13 years old. He remembered not liking at the time; it was boring to him as a kid. Now he realized that it was a valuable tool to calm his mind and to control his emotions. He finally felt his grief begin to calm, it felt like a tumultuous thunderstorm calming and turning to a soft, quiet rain. He concentrated on his father as hard as he could and the image of him seemed to materialize in his mind's eye. His eyes were clenched shut so it seemed like he was alone in the darkness, but the image of his father seemed to be coming into focus clearer and clearer every second. He seemed to be walking toward Venius out of a cloud of dark obscurity.

Venius suddenly felt the need to open his eyes to check and see if it was an illusion or a trick of his imagination, but he suppressed it when the thought struck him that it might vanish if he did. He was too happy to see him again to care if it was real or not. He remained frozen in place, hoping that he wouldn't do anything that would cause the daydream to stop. Tanis gave him a warm smile and bent down to put a hand on his shoulder.

"Venius, I'm sorry." Tanis' voice said. "I'm sorry for all the mistakes I ever made while raising you. I'm sorry I was careless enough to allow the human attack when you were a kid. I'm sorry for all the times when you felt stupid after getting the lowest scores in the family on the exams I gave you. Most of all, I'm sorry I never listened to you when you told me about how many human ships were always flying over our home. If I had only taken your fears a little more seriously, our family would still be together right now."

"Dad I-" Venius said softly before being cut off.

"Will this do to make it alright? I know it's not much, but there's not much I can do anymore." Tanis said.

Tanis grabbed Venius' hand and placed a small Jewel in it. It was a stunningly clear yellow Topaz about the size of a silver dollar.

"Dad…I wouldn't have needed anything to forgive you." Venius said.

Tanis gave him a warm smile. "At least there's one regret I can change now, I can say goodbye to you."

Tanis gave him a quick hug and told him goodbye before walking backwards a few steps and fading backwards into the darkness. The thing that amazed Venius at that point was how solid and real his father's touch had felt. He had touched Ghost Pokemon like Ashley's Gengar before, but they generally felt icy and mist-like to the touch. It was almost like his father was alive again, if only in his head for those scant few moments. When Tanis had gone, Venius finally opened his eyes and came out of his meditative state.

Venius felt his jaw hang open when he caught sight of the Topaz sitting there in his open hand, solid and real as the trees around him. A staggering thought struck him for a moment; maybe his father really was alive! His common sense quickly dismissed it though, so he sat there examining it curiously trying to explain what had happened. It didn't take him long to stumble upon the solution, it was in plain sight in front of him after all. The memorial to Mewtwo that Tanis had built had a large purple gem embedded in the plaque: Mewtwo's Amethyst. The memorial they had built for Tanis had no such gem like this. Venius stood up and laid the Topaz next to Mewtwo's Amethyst and saw that they were identical in size and very similar shaped. He moved it over to Tanis' memorial and set it down in the same relative spot as the Amethyst sat on Mewtwo's memorial. It fit perfectly.

Venius suddenly remembered what his father had said about these gems. "Mewtwo left behind the Amethyst after he died, and it carries his essence inside it. All of his memories are locked away in the crystal lattice, stored like data on a computer disk."

Venius realized that this Topaz must have his father's memories on it too! He dashed towards the bunker, hoping to put the Topaz under a scanner and extract the data from it. He imagined watching all of his father's memories on a computer's holo-screen. He leapt down the steps, slammed open the analyzer and stuffed it inside.

After a few moments, the computer readout showed basic statistics of the crystal: chemical composition, lattice structure type, karat size, but no hints at any stored information. Venius wasn't exactly a computer expert, so he didn't really know what to do at that point. He tried scanning it with all the other parameter settings he could remember, but nothing indicated any data had been stored in the gem.

Sullen and defeated, Venius gave up on the gem for now and went back to reading his father's medical logs. He decided that he would ask Opulous to give it a try whenever he returned and resume reading everything else in the mean time. There were thousands of entries in the database and it would probably take him many more weeks to read them all. He browsed idly until he found the entries of that hemorrhagic virus that they had been infected with a few weeks ago. He picked an innocent looking entry and opened it; his jaw dropped open when he started reading what it contained.

/Logfile entry 10.24.2206

/VirusDat10242206.doc

/User: ShakaraEB

/Begin file:

Attached to this entry is the complete genome sequence of the Ebola-Gamma virus that I have modified. It is no longer infectious to me or the rest of my family, I have changed it so that it infects humans instead. Tanis had forbidden me from creating this strain to use against the humans, but I did it in secret anyway. Ever since the human war in Europe started I've felt that they've been preparing to stab me in the back. If they do, this will teach them a lesson.

/Virus Data:

/Fatality rate: 99.8 percent

/Contagiousness factor: Level 10/10

/Vectors: Body fluid, touch, and airborne

/Incubation period: 10-24 hours

/Symptoms: Internal hemorrhaging, extreme fever, degradation of internal organs, respiratory and/or cardiac arrest

/Attachments: Ebola-gamma(modified).dna

/End File

A plan quickly formed in Venius' mind. He opened the attached DNA sequence and dumped it into the lab's organic synthesizer. He was going to create a large sample of this virus and unleash it into a human city. An evil grin crept across his face as he watched the synthesizer work its magic; tomorrow he would avenge his father!

**Part 2**

The glimmering towers of New Saffron City rose in the distance as Venius approached. He landed a little less than a mile away from the outermost city limits and walked the rest of the way to avoid the humans' psionic detection systems. He pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and made sure that it would be impossible for anyone to see his face under it. Besides disguising his identity, the cloak also provided excellent cover against the biting winter winds which were lashing across the face of Kanto now. The grass under his feet had turned a sickly yellow-brown, but the crops inside the greenhouse domes all around him still glimmered a cheerful green. He walked briskly past them, heading towards the bullet train station on New Saffron's outskirts. A lump formed in his throat as he got closer and nervousness set in, but his determination drove him onward like a missile locked onto its target.

Reaching the stairs that reached up to the train station, Venius fumbled in his robes to find the money he needed to pay the fare. He also dug out an old plastic toy hand, shaped like a human hand. He stuffed the money into it as he climbed the stairs and double checked to make sure his tail was tied tightly around his waist before reaching the top.

"Good morning!" The teller greeted him cheerfully. She gave him a syrupy-sweet smile. "What's your destination?"

"The station on the opposite side of the city." Venius said awkwardly. He didn't know the names of any of the major stations.

"You mean Alpine Station?" The teller asked curiously.

"Yes, that's the one." Venius said succinctly. "How much?"

"Seven dollars please!" the teller replied. Her unnatural cheer had quickly returned.

Venius forked over the money without complaining about the exorbitant fare and took his tickets quickly.

"What's with your hand?" The teller asked, staring at the plastic hand.

"I lost it in an industrial accident." Venius growled.

Venius walked away from the ticket stands quickly before the teller could ask him any questions. It was still early enough in the morning that the rush to get to work hadn't started yet so he didn't have to wait in line too long before getting on the train. The inside was mostly sterile and well polished, but there were a few bits of graffiti scrawled on the wall in various places. There were even fewer people on the train, which made Venius worry if there were enough candidates for infection to start a significantly large outbreak. Nonetheless, he dug out his spray bottle filled with the virus and began walking down the length of the train car, spraying it in the air wildly. He got angry and disturbed stares from the people on the train but pressed on anyway, hoping that none of them would confront him. The train began to move, so he stumbled and took his seat. The other people slowly stopped staring at him as the train picked up speed, and he distracted himself by staring out the window at the cityscape as they sped along.

The train never got to top speed because of the number of stops along the way. At every stop they reached, the number of humans that boarded the train increased significantly. Venius carefully misted little clouds of virus at each stop, hoping to infect every new group of people that came aboard. He held the spray nozzle under his hood carefully and made sneezing noises every time he sprayed it, hoping to make people think that the mist was just caused by his sneezes. But his cloak was making him stand out like a cube in a huge group of spheres, and people started to stare at him again. His heart rate began to climb as he watched people stare intently at his face, trying to see under his hood. He saw one person talking on their cell phone and staring at him at the same time with a scared look on her face.

The little spray bottle ran out of virus right before they reached the final station. Venius pushed his way through the now crowded train car toward the exit, hoping that his cloak wouldn't snag or get stepped on before he made it out. Neither of those things happened, instead one of the humans actually stood up from his seat and put himself in between Venius and the exit.

"Wanna explain to me what's up with that cloak of yours buddy?" The man asked confrontationally.

Venius frantically tried to come up with an excuse, but his mind froze up. He could see hundreds of eyes turning to stare at him; he backed away from the man and headed toward another exit.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" The man said angrily and grabbed Venius by the shoulder.

The hand pulled against Venius' forward momentum and caused the hood to come off of his head; exposing him to all those prying eyes. Immediately he heard shrieks of fear from some of the people and gasps of shock and terror from others.

"Oh my god it's one of them!" One voice cried

"Run away before it tears apart your brain with its powers!" Another yelled.

"I'll get it!" The man who had grabbed Venius yelled.

Venius sprinted towards the other exit now, dodging the man's insane lunge. He had to jump and swerve carefully between the terrified and angry people as he went; some stuck their feet out to trip him and others outright attacked him with their fists. He felt the cloak pull tight over him as a woman grabbed it and tried to pull him back, so he deftly shed it and kept running, now completely exposed. He didn't teleport because he knew that it would instantly attract the police, and it was very possible that they could trace it to discover where he teleported to.

Venius managed to emerge from the train out onto the station platform and found himself surrounded on all sides by a massive horde of humans that were waiting to board the train before it departed for Johto. More screams greeted his appearance and he quickly looked all around for any potential escape route. But the crowd was completely solid around him, and the humans on the train were emerging behind him. One tackled him solidly and the both of them landed with a terrible smack on the pavement. More would-be-heroes emerged from the crowd and came running up towards him. He now knew that he didn't have any other choice than to teleport.

The human that had tackled him fell and smacked his face onto the concrete when Venius vanished out from under him, and many in the crowd gasped again. He reappeared at the top of the station's stairs behind them and smiled when he saw that no-one saw him. They were all staring at where had just been, so he began sprinting down the steel steps unopposed.

Venius was halfway down the stairs when he saw a group of armored policemen gathering at the bottom. To his shock he saw that they were carrying military-grade laser rifles too! The first pair began climbing up the stairs toward him, so he changed direction and began climbing back up, hoping that the crowd was still gathered around the same spot so that he could sneak around them. He wasn't that lucky though, people had already begun descending the stairs above him. He was trapped.

Venius still hesitated to teleport, so he began flying and left the stairs behind him. He stuck his tongue out at the policemen on the stairs and began to accelerate towards the countryside. One of the policemen then pulled out a large portable psionic disruptor and activated it though, and Venius felt a terrible burning sensation cloud his mind as it washed over him. He plummeted out of the air and hit the concrete 10 feet below. The impact sent him spiraling into unconsciousness so he never felt the hands of the policemen as they picked him up and dragged him off.

**Part 3**

Venius slowly awoke lying on an uncomfortable metal table. He felt straps holding him down and a burning pain in his left eyebrow that felt like he had been branded. The back of his head throbbed terribly from where he had hit the ground. He opened his eyes and squinted, fluorescent light flooded his vision and made his headache intensify. He couldn't make out any details at first, but as his eyes adjusted he saw clean white plastic ceiling tiles and recessed lighting above him. He turned his head to look around and saw that he was being held in what appeared to be a research laboratory of some sort. He was alone in the room, and the holographic computer consoles were all logged out and idle. There was a large jointed medical robot looming over him; its sharp instruments glimmered imposingly in the intense light. It wasn't moving or showing any signs of activity, and Venius hoped it stayed that way.

"Hello?" Venius called, "Is anyone there?"

A few seconds later, the air in the corner of the room seemed to shimmer and bend before Venius' eyes. Something was turning from solid to transparent, and it only took a few more seconds for Venius to see that it was a human man wearing a lab coat. He had a large metallic dome of a backpack on; Venius assumed that it was the cloaking device he had used.

"Tricked you! I've been here the whole time!" he cackled at Venius.

Venius was utterly confused by the man's attitude. He shot him a quizzical look that quickly faded back into anger. "How long have I been out?"

"About a week." The man said, his voice sly like a predator toying with its prey.

"You drugged me!" Venius howled with anger and began struggling with his bonds.

"Well, not me personally." The man said with a suppressed laugh.

Venius scowled. "Who the hell are you and what's going on here?"

"My name is Dr. Richard Coalinger, but my friends call me Corkscrew!" He said, this time not suppressing his laughter. "You're in Coalinger Labs of New Saffron City my friend, and today we're going to be doing a few experiments on you!"

Venius felt a wave of fear flood his veins and he struggled more intensely against the straps that held him. An exasperated look washed over Dr. Coalinger's face; he walked over and logged into his computer console and entered a few commands. The straps holding Venius clicked open and fell away like the shed shell of a molting insect.

Venius sat up and eyed Dr. Coalinger with intense suspicion. "What kind of a game are you playing here Corkscrew?"

Dr. Coalinger giggled in happiness at Venius' use of his nickname. "Well my experiments require you to be mobile and active, and it's not like you can escape. There are psionic disruptors all over this building and armed guards just outside the door. It'd be foolish of you to try, and I know that you're aware of this. The only thing you'd accomplish by attacking me would be to bring the nightsticks down upon your head.

"Better them than those needles and laser scalpels!" Venius yelled, and jumped down to throw a kick at Dr. Coalinger.

Dr. Coalinger calmly entered a few more commands into his console without even turning to face Venius, and a small local force field appeared between them and blocked Venius' kick. Venius recoiled in pain as a small surge of electricity coursed through his foot upon contact, burning the spot where he touched it slightly.

"Please don't try that again!" Dr. Coalinger chided kindly, "I need you in top shape for my experiments!"

"What if I don't give a damn about your experiments?" Venius growled.

"Then I'll just have to calm you down for a bit!" Dr. Coalinger laughed.

Coalinger entered another command and Venius heard the hiss of an invisible gas entering the room. The force field contained it so it only Venius was exposed. Venius held his breath for as long as he could; his lungs felt like they would burst after 30 seconds.

"Oh come now! Do you think I would poison my most promising test subject? It's just a mood elevating compound that will make you feel better and more co-operative!" Dr. Coalinger protested. "Now take a deep breath!"

Venius held his breath for a few seconds longer before his lungs finally failed him and his breath gave way. The gas smelled sweet, like watermelons and it instantly made him feel more content. He tried to fight the feelings of complacency as they flooded him, but it was entirely futile. A huge stupid grin crept over his face and he breathed it in more and more deeply; enjoying its smell.

"Now isn't that better?" Coalinger asked with a friendly smile.

"Definitely." Venius said calmly. "I'm sorry I was so rude."

Coalinger smiled. "Not a problem, now if you would please sit down, we can get started!"

The experiments that Dr. Coalinger performed seemed harmless enough for the first half hour. It was more like a routine physical than anything else. He was stretched, prodded, poked, and examined in a generally harmless manner. The only thing that Venius would have refused if he were in his right mind was the blood sample. But after that, Dr. Coalinger revealed the true purpose of his experiments.

"Now Venius, I've been developing a new type of Psionic Disruptors for the military recently, and I'd like to try them out on you. I've been designing them so that they can intermittently prevent you from using specific abilities but to allow others. Would you mind lifting that cup of water on the table with your mind please?"

Venius complied and the cup dutifully hovered in the air. Coalinger messed with the controls for a moment and Venius felt his control over the cup vanish. It clattered to the floor and spilled its contents.

"Good! Now will you try making an energy sword for me?"

Venius complied again, his sword flickered a brilliant yellow against the fluorescent lights. Coalinger entered more computer commands and the sword suddenly vanished.

They repeated these steps for another 30 minutes, covering each of Venius' psychic abilities until there was nothing left to test. He didn't have any second thoughts about it the whole time thanks to the mood altering gas. He would have happily told the scientist where to find the rest of his family if he had asked, but thankfully all Coalinger was interested in was the scientific data. The gas was only starting to wear off when Coalinger asked him to follow him to the holding cells.

"Holding cells?" Venius asked as his rationality slowly returned to him.

"Yes! Now that we're done with our work I'm going to give you a splendid little suite in the third cell block where we put all the Pokemon we have experimented on. This time tomorrow some nice men from the military will be here to pick you up for a trip!"

Venius' common sense didn't fully kick in until it was too late however. Panic began to fill his mind as the lock of his cell clicked shut.

"Wait Corkscrew, wait! Don't you know what they're going to do to me?"

"Of course! They're going to turn you into their pet and war machine! Why else do you think I've been designing these specialized disruptors? They want to use you as a weapon and servant!" Coalinger laughed with a strange mirth. "Good luck!"

Coalinger closed the door to the holding block and left Venius alone to stew as his emotions finished turning to normal. He felt a chilling terror about the terrible new weapon he had more than willingly helped Coalinger develop. He wanted to go back in time and erase all his actions of the last hour; he wished that he were back at home still reading his father's medical logs. Most of all he was afraid of the fate that awaited him. He knew that the humans would probably use more of that horrific mood altering gas to get him to do what they wanted, and that these tasks would probably be horrific and violent.

Venius rattled the bars of his cage, more to release his emotions than to try to escape. He knew that was futile, but he needed to get the terrible fear out somehow. He shook them as hard as he could and they clanged loudly to attest to his emotional turmoil.

A sudden shower of bright electrical sparks caught Venius' eye from somewhere else in the room. He stopped shaking his cell momentarily to turn and look for the source. He saw that there were other cages all around him as Coalinger had said. Most of them were empty now; a handful contained a few different kinds of electric type Pokemon. The cell to his left held a pair of Jolteons, a few cells down he saw a Raichu, across from it was a Manectric, and the cell to his right had a large litter of tiny baby Shinxes. The sparks had come from the Shinxes, and as he took a closer look at them he noticed something amazing: all seven of them had coats of yellow and black fur that shone and sparkled even in the near-nonexistent light of the room. He had heard of shining Pokemon before, they were supposed to be exceptionally rare and unparalleled in beauty. Breeding wasn't supposed to pass on the trait of a shining coat, so the fact that all seven in a litter were shiny was astonishing.

"You poor little things! What have they been doing to you?" Venius asked, crouching down in his cell to get a closer look at them

They simply mewled up at him weakly, not even able to say their own names yet. He wanted to try to read their minds but the psionic disruptors had returned to full spectrum blocking, leaving him unable to communicate with them. They all stared up at him with their luminous orange eyes; Venius found their gaze to be striking and powerful.

A powerful bang and crackling of electricity assaulted Venius' ears and he spun around to see the source of the noise. The two Jolteons in the cage on the other side of Venius' cell were standing against the bars giving him a threatening look. They released another blast of electricity, but the bars of their cage absorbed it easily. The lights overhead brightened for a moment as the electricity was absorbed into the building's power grid.

"I'm not trying to hurt them!" Venius said in most assuring voice. "Here, I'm a Pokemon like you, not one of those horrible humans!"

Venius squeezed his hand through the bars so that the Jolteons could examine it. One of them took a few sniffs and the other stared intently. The spiky fur on both of their bodies lowered quietly as their agitation faded. The one on the left looked up at him with its deep obsidian colored eyes; to Venius it felt like it could see his soul.

Venius withdrew his hand and the two Jolteons began chattering at each other in their native Pokemon language. As a young kid Venius could understand the language of other Pokemon naturally, but ever since his father had taught him English he had forgotten most of it from disuse. Now he could only hear them repeating their names to each other back and forth; the meaning was lost to him. He heard the Manectric in the cage across the room chime in, and soon the Raichu had joined in. They all talked incessantly to each other until Venius felt like he couldn't stand to hear their names one more time.

"Would everyone please clam up and listen to me for a second?" Venius yelled. The other Pokemon fell quiet instantly. "Thank you. Now here's the deal: I think I have an idea that will help us all escape, but we're going to need to work together to do it!"

"I noticed that when the Jolteons used their electric attacks, the iron bars absorbed the energy and sent it into this building's power grid. I think that if all of you were to use your strongest electric attacks at once, you might be able to overwhelm and shut down the grid!"

The Pokemon seemed confused. They had never tried this before, but they knew it was quite possible. The Jolteons nodded to him as if to show that they understood that he couldn't translate their speech.

"I don't know the strength of the electric attacks that you all know, but I'll trust you to do your best. Are you ready to give it a try?"

The Jolteons nodded eagerly again and the Manectric gave a cry of approval. The Raichu looked unconvinced, but it nodded slightly. The Shinxes didn't even seem to know what was going on.

"On three!" Venius shouted. "One, two, three!"

The room was flooded with bright white and yellow light as all the electric Pokemon unleashed their fury upon their cages. The lights in the ceiling suddenly glowed to full strength despite the dimmer switch that had been holding them at their lowest setting. The cacophony of the electricity that filled the room made Venius cover his ears.

But no overload occurred, and the Pokemon quickly ran out of juice to maintain their efforts. The lights dimmed again and Venius felt the icy grip of fear begin to curl around his heart again.

"Come on, let's try it again! Maybe that last blast weakened them!"

The Raichu gave him a disapproving scowl as he counted down but co-operated nonetheless. Once again the room was lit up with deafening cracks and booms of power, but the grid absorbed it easily without showing any signs of stress.

"Damn it!" Venius swore. A look of desperation crossed his face. "Come on, one more time!"

This time the Raichu turned away from him and refused when Venius started counting down. But even without him, the third attempt seemed to be ten times brighter and louder. Venius was shocked to see that one of the Shinx cubs had joined in, and its electric power was nearly ten times that of an of the others. A massive thunderbolt left its body and coursed into the grid, causing the overhead lights to explode and sizzle. The entire building seemed to hum and rattle with effort, and Venius distinctly smelled smoke and ozone wafting through the air. With one final gasp, the entire building fell silent. The remaining lights fell dark, the air conditioners hushed, the lights on the sliding door's control panel blinked out.

"Yes!" Venius yelled gleefully. "You did it! Brilliant!"

Venius immediately sprang to work when the psionic disruptors faded out. He locked onto every single Pokemon in the room and teleported everyone, including himself, out of the building and into the waiting arms of the nearby forest.

A/N: So Venius managed to escape his terrible fate, but the humans still got their new disruptor technology. Wonder what happened during the week while Venius was unconscious? That's what we'll see next chunk! Thanks for reading!


	12. Part I: Brotherhood : Chunk 11

**The Four Mirrors**  
Sequel to 'Legacies'

By MMM/AJ

_This third and final installation of the series is dedicated to Katie. My biggest fan, my best supporter/helper, and my closest friend._

**A/N:** This chunk starts out with a chapter from Melicia's point of view. Originally I planned to write it as an interlude, but since it got much longer than originally planned I made it into a full chapter. Enjoy another good 12-pager!

**Chapter XX - MI**

It had only been a few hours since Satoria and Tamista had left, and Melicia was already spiraling into deep depression without them. The two of them had given up on looking for Shakara, but she had refused to go with them back home. She was unwilling to admit that her mom could be dead, so she continued searching through the caves of Mount Moon. They had assured her that they had explored all the passages in the cave completely, but she wasn't convinced. She continued wandering through the passages alone now, her lantern the only source of light. The caverns twisted and turned as she delved deeper into the mountain.

The three of them had drawn up a map of the passageways during their initial sweep, and Melicia held it out in front of her and followed her route on the map as she walked. She wanted to recheck the dead ends on the map that were caused by cave-ins. She was sure that Shakara could have sealed herself in behind one of these cave-ins.

Most of the cave-ins turned out to be real dead ends however, Melicia used her telekinesis to lift the boulders and clear them out to check what was behind them. She hadn't forgotten that the humans might detect her when she did this, but she was too depressed and determined to find Shakara to care. It wasn't until several more hours later that her suspicions suddenly felt a little justified. Behind a cave-in she found a huge new passageway that spiraled deeper and deeper into the earth. She started out down it with a new flush of excitement; she couldn't wait to prove her sisters wrong!

At the bottom of the passage, the cave gave way to metal stairs! Melicia felt a lump of nervousness congeal in her stomach as she descended the stairway, and it nearly doubled in size when she reached the bottom. The stone walls ended and were replaced with steel, and a large steel door blocked the passage before her. It wasn't entirely closed either, it looked like it had been blasted open partway with an explosive of some sort; there was a huge charred hole in it just large enough for her to squeeze through. It wasn't smoking or glowing with heat, so obviously the explosion had occurred quite some time ago.

Melicia poked her head and lantern through and peered into the gloom beyond. She saw long branching metallic corridors, lined with sliding doors and covered with red painted symbols. There were dozens of scorch marks on the walls and old dried out skeletons piled on the floor. It took Melicia a moment to recognize the symbols as the three bloody swords of Ares' old empire, and she realized that she must have stumbled upon one of his old abandoned secret bases! Apparently it had been the site of a major battle as well, judging by the large amount of skeletons and burn marks everywhere.

Melicia wasn't exactly afraid of a few skeletons and she knew that there couldn't be anyone left alive inside the base, so she mustered up her courage and crawled the rest of the way through the remains of the door and began investigating. She followed a systematic grid pattern as she explored the facility, keeping her eyes and ears open for any trace of movement. She noticed an equal number of human skeletons as there were skeletons of Ares' Acolytes, all were bare of flesh and scattered wildly. Some of the rooms were completely empty; their occupants either fled or joined the battle when the violence started. In one of the office areas she found documents from over 60 years ago, which meant that this base had existed even before Ares had conquered the earth. It must have been one of his earliest secret facilities where he had concocted his plans for conquest!

Eventually Melicia stumbled across a strange looking door between a pair of utterly dark windows. She opened the door and saw that there was a massive cavern beyond it. A huge chamber opened hundreds of feet in every direction, including downward. There was a little metal platform underneath the door and a set of stairs that descended deep into the blackness below. The light from her lantern couldn't penetrate deep enough to illuminate the outer walls of the chamber; but it did barely reflect off of a few huge rusted metal beams that filled the center of the chamber.

Melicia felt irritated at her limited line of sight now, so she created a little orb of psychic energy and used it to brightly illuminate the entire cavern. With its light she could see that the cave had been used as a massive starship construction facility. The center of the cavern was filled with a massive network of old rusted scaffolding and construction equipment. There was a half-finished cruiser class ship suspended inside the scaffolding; its inner support beams stuck out into the air bare and rusted like ribs of a rotting beast. There were at least 7 other small buildings on the wall and floor of the cave, one of which appeared to be a mining facility. The whole place was covered with dust and rust, and the pale ghostly light from Melicia's psychic light source gave it a creepy washed out look.

Melicia extinguished her light as a chill ran up and down her spine. She could now feel a terribly frightening atmosphere in this place. It was almost like the feeling that comes with being stalked by a malevolent ghost Pokemon. Melicia felt very uncomfortable with the idea of staying here any longer, but she knew that if her mom was still alive that it would be a great hiding place for her.

Melicia tried to climb down the stairs to the bottom of the chamber, but they proved too rusty and unstable to be trustworthy. She hovered down to the bottom instead and began searching the buildings down there next. Three more hours of searching down there proved utterly futile, and Melicia felt strong waves of fatigue kick in and dull her determination. She realized that it was probably getting into the early AM hours, so she needed to find some place to sleep. By sheer coincidence she stumbled upon a barracks that had been used by Ares' old Acolytes; there were dozens of pre-prepared bunk beds stacked against the walls. They each had their own digital alarm clocks, but there hadn't been power here for many years so Melicia would have to wake up on her own. She took a deep breath and blew the thick layer of dust off of the blanket and peeled it back. The sheets were pristine underneath, almost as if they had just been cleaned. She set her lantern on the end table next to the bed and turned it down to its lowest setting. The light fell to a soft touch of a glow.

The bed wasn't padded very thickly but it was soft and the proper size to fit Melicia. She still felt that unshakeable sense of being stalked by something, but her tiredness was beginning to overwhelm it. She spent 15 minutes staring out at the other beds around her before falling into a gentle sleep.

Melicia's dreams were haunted by violence. She saw her mother in the dream, fleeing desperately from a huge group of human pursuers. They were firing energy rifles at her as she ran, mostly missing but a few struck their marks. Shakara's body was covered with burns but she kept running wildly, not caring where she ended up. Melicia felt a rage boiling up inside her and she flew towards them to save her mother. The humans never saw her coming; she sliced and diced them like lunchmeat with energy swords. But more were pouring out of the landscape around her like termites emerging from woodwork. They seemed inept and stupid, they hardly fired at her at all and those who did always missed. She cut them to pieces in hordes, almost forgetting about her mother who seemed to be standing by not doing anything.

Melicia's dream was interrupted by a loud thump and a clang from somewhere in the barracks. She sat straight up and banged her horns against the metal bars supporting the bunk above her, causing her skull to vibrate painfully. She clutched her head tightly and scanned the room around her quickly to find the source of the noise.

The room was pitch-black though, her lantern had been turned off somehow. She fumbled for it in the dark and accidentally knocked it over. It wasn't made of glass so thankfully it couldn't shatter, but Melicia cursed nonetheless. She bent over the side of the bed and reached around for it wildly. Then she saw something on the floor that made her freeze in fear. There was a glowing spot on the floor of some kind!

Melicia stared in fear and curiosity, not daring to move. As she watched the spot seemed to grow and open up like a portal of some kind. It radiated warmth and seemed to have this terrible aura of fear and pain. Then something began to emerge from it. Ghostly ethereal horns and then a head rose up from inside it, and Melicia scrambled back away from it in horror.

"Grandfather?!" she whispered in horror

The ghostly form of Ares had risen up from the floor in front of Melicia. He was clearly transparent and mist-like, and his body was covered with iron chains and hooks that were hanging from the flesh of his soul. He stared into her eyes with an unparalleled intensity and spoke.

"Melicia, my granddaughter. I have come to deliver a message to you." Ares' voice had a low rumbling quality to it; it felt tickly in Melicia's ears.

"Ever since I was a child, I harbored an intense hatred for humanity deep in my heart. Those scumbags who created me had no problem treating me like garbage, but I let their words turn me into a mass murdering monstrosity. These chains that you see hanging from me are a representation of the torment I've endured for all the people I tortured and killed during my life."

"I want to warn you not to let the crimes that you've endured at the hands of humanity turn you into what I was. You have a golden heart of kindness Melicia; don't let them tarnish it with hate."

Melicia stared at him in awe. "Grandpa…can you tell me if mom is dead?"

"Shakara is a strong one, she wouldn't go down quietly. But now, she no longer resides on your plane."

Melicia sighed heavily and frowned with sorrow.

"I must go now Melicia, I don't have any time left here. But I may see you in the afterlife. Since I was willing to give up my power to save Shakara right before my death I was not sentenced to an eternity in the underworld, only to a period of time equal to all the suffering I caused during my life. Goodbye and good luck."

Ares slowly vanished into the darkness and Melicia bent over the bed to look at the spot where he had emerged from. The glowing circle had vanished, and now she had been plunged back into darkness.

Melicia grabbed her lantern and turned it back on. She now knew that she had to leave this place behind and find her sisters. She didn't know what time it was at that point, but she knew that it was time to go home. She would psychically contact Cygnus and Nolus soon so that they could meet up again.

**Chapter XXI – NV**

"Wake up sleepyhead!" Asha's voice chimed cheerfully from the darkness. Nolus groggily opened his eyes and stared up at Asha.

"Morning already?" He grumbled.

"Your brother has been up for an hour already, now come on! You know what today is!" Asha said excitedly.

Excitement surged through Nolus' mind and body as he remembered what was scheduled for today. He sat upright and gave Asha a big grin. "This is going to be great!"

The two of them climbed the stairs out of the basement of Asha's home and emerged into the kitchen where Ashley and John were finishing breakfast. Ashley was busy stuffing scrambled eggs down her throat as quickly as possible, while John was sipping a cup of black coffee gingerly while writing furiously on a digital pad.

"Morning all!" Nolus said with an excited tone.

Ashley waved at him cheerfully as she finished wolfing down the eggs; little bits of yolk were getting caught in her long black hair now. Some stuck to the plain grey shirt she was wearing as well. It was a Saturday, so she didn't need to dress up and go to work teaching students at the university. She still loved to dress extra-casual, and it showed in the pair of scraggly jeans that she was wearing. Granted it wasn't the ancestral pair that her father had given her, but it had its own unique patterns of wear and tear.

Ashley had aged much more gracefully than her husband. Her hair was as still as purely black and messy as ever, and she had only gotten a few wrinkles to show her middle age. John however, was becoming jagged and grey like a cliff.

Over on the counter Asha's Espeon was washing the breakfast dishes with its mind, using telekinesis to remove every bit of grime and dirt. Shiannah was providing a fresh stream of water to wash the dishes with, and together they seemed to be having a lot of fun.

"When are we going to go?" Nolus asked enthusiastically. "I can't wait much longer!"

Asha ruffled the fur on Nolus' shoulders and grinned. "To think that less than a minute ago you weren't even willing to get up out of that bed!"

Ashley finished gulping down her eggs and said "I'm done! Now where's Cygnus?"

"I'm coming!" Cygnus' voice called from the stairs to the second floor.

They heard heavy thudding footsteps on the stairs as Cygnus sprinted down them haphazardly. He emerged around the corner from the den, panting and covered with sweat.

"What's with you? You look like you've been running laps!" Nolus asked.

"Did you know that John has a treadmill hidden upstairs? I found it this morning and I've been running for 30 minutes. It's a great substitute for jogging since we can't go outside." Cygnus panted with a grin on his face.

"Well you'll have to mop yourself up during the flight; we're ready to head out!" Asha said excitedly.

John finished his last sip of coffee and tucked his pad under his arm to lead them out to the garage. The garage was cluttered with all sorts of antique gadgets and assorted bric-a-brac; it was neatly piled around the family's two vehicles. John owned a sleek little hover-car on the opposite side of the garage and Ashley owned a huge hover-van the size of a small shuttle. It was fortunate that it was so large; they would need every cubic inch of space to fit everyone inside. Nolus had to practically fold himself in half to fit through the side door and crawl into the back seat. The interior was made from smoothly molded dark grey plastic and the seats were padded with fake fur of some sort, and Nolus had to hold his tail in his lap when he sat. Cygnus crammed into the seat next to him and they had to squeeze against each other to fit in the same row. Asha sat in the row in front of them and Ashley and John sat in the front at the controls. Nolus had to struggle to find the female buckle for his seat belt and then tug to get the belt to reach it.

"Can we listen to some techno please?" Asha begged with a pouting lip.

"No, it's time for the morning news and I heard that there's going to be an interesting story on the plague in New Saffron!" Ashley said as she turned the ignition and the van rumbled to life.

The van soared out of the garage and gained altitude quickly. They turned away from New Celadon City and flew northwards, towards Mount Moon. The glowing steel towers of the metropolis vanished quickly as the van reached maximum speed. Nolus squinted through the heavily tinted windows at the countryside as it sped by underneath. The tint was so strong that he could barely make out the shining spots of sun reflecting brightly off of farm domes.

The radio crackled loudly for a moment as John fiddled with it, looking for the news. He stumbled upon the correct frequency and passed it in his haste, causing a spattering of the newscaster's voice to croak through between jolts of static. He quickly turned it back and they listened intently.

"-return to 12News at 9. In today's top story, officials have announced that the culprit responsible for the New Saffron Ebola plague escaped last night at around 11PM. The military still refuses to release the man's identity, but speculation continues to run wild. Here's a report from Geraldine Delane, our special reporter inside the quarantine zone:"

"Roberta, things are getting pretty well under control here in New Saffron now. It's been a week since the first cases of Ebola-gamma were reported in the city, and the miraculously quick reaction of the Japanese Government has helped minimize the deaths involved. No cases as of yet have been reported outside the city, and the number of new cases inside the city have been on a steady decline since Saturday. It appears that the new nano-robotic treatment system that has been administered to the public has been a staggering success. As for the culprit's escape, there's no word as to where he was headed when he broke out of Coalinger Labs, but rumor has it that he's involved with the fugitive Shakara Et Benca and her family."

A little light bulb clicked on in Nolus' brain. "Hold on a moment! What if Venius was the one who did all that?"

Ashley immediately turned the radio down so she could speak. "How could he have? It's not like he could have just walked into that city and sprayed people with samples of virus!"

"Think about it! Ebola was the kind of Virus that we all got infected with that one time. Venius could have changed it to infect humans, disguised himself with a cloak and hood and snuck into the city to release it! His capture would explain why we couldn't find him at home on Tuesday!"

"Do you think he'd really do something so terrible?" Asha asked with a horrified expression.

"I…well, father's death hit him much harder than any of the rest of us. Maybe we shouldn't have left him alone at home…" Nolus said in a guilty tone.

"Wait, listen to this!" John said excitedly and turned the volume of the radio back up.

"-Investigation into Admiral Angelo Dupree came to a conclusion today. In a startling new scandal it was revealed that the admiral was a member of a secret extremist group known as "The Psi-Slayers". This group is known for their extreme hatred and distrust for Shakara Et Benca and her United Protectorate, and they are believed to be responsible for the attacks against her fleet a week and a half ago. Admiral Dupree was also found to be falsifying multiple documents and statistics in order to make the Protectorate sounds like a dangerous terrorist organization in order to justify going to war with them. His private documents also implicate a large number of other members on the UN as members of this group as well."

Nolus was shocked to hear that the Psi-Slayers had so thoroughly infiltrated the UN, but also satisfied that they had been brought into public scrutiny over what they had done.

"Admiral Dupree was found guilty of multiple crimes including conspiracy, falsifying justification for war, perjury, and many others. A temporary executive Triumvirate is also considering holding him accountable for all the casualties caused by his false war. Such a dire charge would most likely result in the death penalty if he were convicted. An International Committee is being assembled to handle further investigations of other UN officials, which will begin later this week."

Nolus felt a grin cross his face. He normally thought of the death penalty as abhorrent, but in Dupree's case he was willing to make an exception. He saw that Cygnus had an equally large grin on his face too.

"Whoo! I hope they incinerate that piece of human garbage!" Cygnus hooted.

"Do you think he was behind the bombing attack on your house too?" Ashley asked.

"I'd bet my life on it." Cygnus said stoically. "I think he's behind all the crap Shakara went through in the Protectorate too."

The radio news turned to less interesting stories, so Asha, Cygnus and Nolus chatted quietly while Ashley and John listened to it. They theorized about what could have happened to Venius for a good ten minutes before Mount Moon loomed up over the horizon to greet them. Somewhere the sisters were waiting in one of the cave entrances to meet them; the trick was going to be finding the correct one. Ashley gently adjusted a knob to turn down the tinting on the windows so that they could see clearly and scan the various caves for them.

Mount Moon was littered with passages and cave openings, so they wandered around it for nearly 20 minutes searching for any sign of the three sisters. Groups of wild Gravelers rolled down the mountainside as they passed various holes in the rock and a flock of wild Fearow rustled their wings in indignation as they flew past a nest. They were near the peak of the mountain when the headlights shone across Satoria inside one of the smaller caves. She waved at them enthusiastically as they descended to meet here. Asha threw the door of the van open and she climbed in, followed by Tamista.

"Hey guys! It's wonderful to see everyone again!" Satoria said cheerfully.

Ashley frowned at Melicia, who was still standing in the cave trying to squeeze herself in. "Hey Melicia, do you mind if we come back and make a second trip to pick you up?"

Melicia looked a little dispirited but nodded in agreement. "That's ok, I've got time."

"Don't worry, we'll be back in two hours!" Asha said with a reassuring pat on her shoulder. "Take my PDA, it has games on it you can play in the mean time."

Melicia waved at them as they flew off; less energetically than how Satoria had to greet them. She strode back into the cave as they sped away, and Nolus felt a little sorry for her for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry you girls couldn't find anything." Ashley said suddenly.

"It's alright, we're ready to accept that mom's gone now. This search was really just a kind of denial for us." Satoria said,

"Melicia told us about a vision she had 2 nights ago too, she said that she was visited by the spirit of Ares!" Tamista added.

"You're kidding!" Ashley said with a shocked tone. "What happened?"

"Melicia told us that he said that Shakara was gone and that we should move on with our lives and try to be happy." Satoria said with a little awe in her voice.

"That's some deep advice coming from him." John said offhandedly.

"That night Melicia refused to come with us when we climbed back down the mountain and went to camp in the forest. The following morning there she was, shaking us awake to tell us about what happened. Next thing we know we end up contacting you Nolus and arranging this pickup! Whatever he said to her, it caused her attitude to pull a complete 180. She's been going on and on about how great it will be to see you guys again." Said Tamista. "I can't say that I wasn't excited either, but she seemed practically ebullient."

Nobody really knew what to say about that, so for a few moments the van was mostly silent. Then Cygnus broke in to tell the sisters about the incident at New Saffron and the awkward silence disappeared. After several comfortable minutes, they drifted onto the subject of Admiral Dupree.

"Guess what we heard over the radio on the way to pick you guys up!" Cygnus said excitedly. "One of, if not the biggest conspirators in the attack against your mom's fleet just got exposed!"

"No kidding!" Tamista said ecstatically, "Fill us in!"

"They're going to hold him responsible for every single human that died in the war he caused; he could face the death penalty for it!" Cygnus continued, "They also found a list of a huge number of other Psi-Slayers in government positions, and they're all going to be investigated too!"

"Wait, maybe that means we can use our powers freely again without worrying about those hunter-seekers tracking us down!" Satoria said.

Before anyone could say anything, Satoria teleported the whole group straight to the site of their old home where they were headed; van and all. She looked a little pale and fatigued when they re-emerged, the distance they had covered was a little less than a hundred miles so it had taken most of her psychic energy to perform. The leafless trees and rubble of the house grew as they descended.

"Satoria, we don't know for sure that all the Psi-Slayers have been rooted out yet! Now there could be an entire battalion of those robots after us!" John said angrily.

"Maybe, but we ARE in a hover-van, we can just fly away if they come after us!" Melicia pouted.

Nolus saw that Venius was running across the yard, past the wreckage of the house to meet them as the van landed on the yard. There was a procession of unfamiliar Pokemon following him, all electric type. The van settled onto the brown grass gently and the doors popped open with gentle hisses.

"Well look what the Ketchums dragged in!" Venius said with a smile as they climbed out.

"You're alright!" Satoria said happily, running over to give him a hug.

"We heard about what happened to you in New Saffron." Nolus said emotionlessly.

Venius' expression instantly melted from happiness into shock. "What?"

"It was just a guess…" Cygnus said, looking shocked as well. "I didn't really think we were right…"

"How did you escape?" Asha asked, one of the last ones to emerge from the van.

"With a little help from my friends here." Venius said, gesturing towards the Pokemon that were following. "The Manectric is named Tiri, the Jolteons are Ayden and Kyden, and I don't really have names for the Shinxes yet. There was a Raichu with me too but he went his own way after we escaped. They all helped me escape by frying the power grid of the place with their electricity to bring down their psionic disruptors. Especially this little fellow!"

Venius picked up one of the Shinx cubs to show them. Nolus had never seen a shining Pokemon before, the Shinx had yellow fur where it should have been blue, and all its fur had a dazzling sparkle about it like its skin naturally produced glitter.

"He created a thunderbolt strong enough to take down the entire grid by himself!" Venius said proudly, as if the Shinx were his own child.

"I think you should name him-" Asha began

"Her!" Venius corrected suddenly.

"I think you should name HER Luxxy."

"Why's that?" Venius asked.

"Well, one day she's going to grow into a big strong Luxray, and it's very lucky that she was able to help you escape, so why not combine the words? Lucky Luxray, Luxxy?"

"I like it! I think it sounds strong!" Satoria chimed in.

"Luxxy it is!" Venius said happily, and the Shinx looked at him and smiled cutely.

"I've never seen so many shiny Pokemon together at once!" Ashley marveled, bending down to look at the rest of the litter. "I thought the gene for a shining coat wasn't genetically inheritable, that it was only a random point mutation in a Pokemon's genome!"

"They were experimental subjects being held at a lab!" Venius said. "I think they were genetically modified to express the shiny gene!"

Ashley looked up at Venius suddenly with puppy eyes. "Can I have one of them?"

Everyone seemed shocked at Ashley's request. "But…but you're a 40-ish year old college professor, you quit training Pokemon years ago!" Cygnus blurted out.

Ashley looked hurt at his remark. "Hey, I still raise Pokemon! You know my Shiannah and Megawatt are the healthiest Pokemon of their ages, for their species at least. Usually Eevees and their evolutionary variants only live for about 25 years, mine are 37! I'll be damned if my age has any kind of impact on my skill at Pokemon handling!"

"Easy there hon." John said, laying a hand on Ashley's shoulder.

Cygnus looked mortified, but thankfully Venius took the heat off of him by speaking. "Then I think you're the best person for me to give one too! Go ahead and pick one yourself."

The Shinxes were still so young that they had no idea about the world around them; they didn't know what was happening as Ashley looked over them to choose. One of them playfully wandered out of the group to explore, and Ashley smiled and picked him up.

"I'll take this one, since he seems to love wandering off to get into to trouble!" Ashley said. "I think I'll name him Milo."

"No problem. You can have one too if you want Asha." Venius offered.

"No thanks, I've already got too many kinds of Pokemon as it is. If I take anymore different species I'll have to apply for a Trainer's License on top of my Breeder's License!"

"So where are Melicia and Opulous?" Venius asked curiously.

"We couldn't fit Melicia into the van and we don't really know where Opulous is." Nolus said, still emotionless in his tone of voice.

"Hey, is something bothering you Nolus?" Venius asked in a softer voice.

"We'll talk about it later." Nolus whispered.

**A/N**: So the family is slowly recovering and coming back together now, and Venius has his own group of Pokemon to help and protect him! Stay tuned for next chapter and we'll see where Opulous went, as well as the outcome of Admiral Dupree's trial!


	13. Part I: Brotherhood : Chunk 12

**The Four Mirrors**  
Sequel to 'Legacies'

By MMM/AJ

_This third and final installation of the series is dedicated to Katie. My biggest fan, my best supporter/helper, and my closest friend._

**A/N:** Here's the final chunk for Book I! It's a hefty 24 pages and full of interesting details! The epilogue here also draws some parallels to the Epilogue of Legacies too. It'll be obvious when you see it! Anyway, read and enjoy!

**Chapter XXII – OV**

The little chunk of rock off of the southern coast of Kanto called New Island had a lot of history for Opulous and his family. It was the little island that Mewtwo had built a Temple on almost 200 years ago during his short stint with villainy. After seeing the errors of his ways though, Mewtwo had demolished the Temple and left the island totally empty. But at that point Giovanni, the maniacal leader of Team Rocket, was still bent on capturing Mewtwo and New Island was the first place he looked in his search. Unable to find where Mewtwo had hidden himself, Giovanni spent his efforts scanning every square inch of the island for even a molecule of evidence that would help. He built a huge lab facility there to further the study of the island, and it was abuzz with activity until one of his agents finally found Mewtwo hundreds of miles away in Purity Canyon. With Mewtwo found, Giovanni had no more use for the lab so it was abandoned. Too hurried to deconstruct and haul off the components, the Team Rocket personnel simply left it as is as they mustered to Purity Canyon. For nearly 190 years the lab laid silent; ocean storms pounded it and wild Pokemon built nests in and on it, but still it endured.

It was here that Opulous had spent most of his week away from the family. It had been the first stop in his soul-searching journey, and it quickly turned into the only one as its contents transfixed him. Naturally none of the equipment functioned properly anymore, but it didn't matter to Opulous. Every little piece of machinery, every ancient and antique wire filled him with wonder and excitement. To him, this place was like a portal back in time to his grandfather's age. The technology was so primitive compared to what he was used to, so figuring out how any of it worked was a challenge like a puzzle to him.

Best of all, Opulous discovered that some of the hard drives had escaped the elements and survived with intact data. The drives sheltered by the greatest amount of equipment and buried deep inside computer banks had not been touched by years of rain and snow. Opulous had been the only one of the four brothers that Tanis had managed to teach how to read machine minds, and this skill came in extraordinarily handily when he uncovered these drives. Opulous knew his siblings weren't dumb, but they had proven incapable of this feat even with weeks of training and they had all eventually given up on learning it. But Opulous had finally managed to perfect the skill just a few days before his father's death.

All it took was a little psychic power to power up the hard drives and he could access all the data within. Naturally the data had degraded over the years, but not so badly that Opulous couldn't read any of it. Bits of corrupted data simply came through as hiccups in his thoughts as he translated and comprehended them.

The wealth of information on the disks was astounding too! Everything from written records of events to scan data to video recordings was hidden upon them, and Opulous spent his time pouring it into his mind, reading the text and watching the video against his closed eyelids. He even found a few entries written by Giovanni himself! There weren't very many of them, and from what Opulous read they were very angry and terse. Giovanni had been beside himself with fury that Mewtwo had escaped detection for so long and was unwilling to wait another 15-20 years to clone him again. Then Opulous stumbled upon something even more fascinating: his grandfather's complete genetic code! Then, on top of that, he found some of the software they had used to create it!

Suddenly, Opulous remembered a conversation he had had with his father when he had been a small child. He had asked Tanis why he had created him, and Tanis had said "I wanted to make sure that our species continued to exist even after I die. Hopefully one day you'll have kids of your own one day too, even if you have to clone them. Maybe one day there will be as many of us as there are humans!"

With those words in his mind along with Giovanni's old software, Opulous had a moment of blindingly bright inspiration. He realized that he needed a functional computer console to work on, and he needed it now. He was going to write a program, and he couldn't do that just holding onto a hard drive. He returned it to its place in the computer banks and began to work on cleaning them all up. Caught up in his sudden tidal wave of inspiration, he threw caution to the wind and used his psychic abilities left and right with no mind to the possibility that he could be detected. He cleaned dirt and dust out of all the vital mechanisms and circuitry, repaired and replaced rusted out connections, and repaired the solar panels on the roof. In less than five hours he had brought their central computing core and a single station online, a feat by itself that he could be proud of.

Then Opulous began programming. With his robotic hand wired right into the console and his organic hand clutching it tightly, he immersed his mind into the machine and programmed with an insane speed and intensity. He used Giovanni's ancient program for a reference as he went, his father's words still ringing in his mind. He concentrated on his work so deeply that he didn't notice time pass around him, and the sun set and rose as he wrote thousands of lines of program code. He didn't notice as his stomach began to cramp up with hunger and his mouth dried out from thirst. After four days he began to slow down as bugs in his program interrupted and irritated him. He receded out of his concentration and noticed that he was about to pass out from dehydration, so he fetched some of the bottled water he had brought and took a drink. Then he noticed his hunger and exhaustion and decided to take a break to address them. He ate a ration of the food Asha had given him and slept the rest of that day and night away.

The next day Opulous continued his programming blitz. This time he spent three days straight working on it before being interrupted, and it wasn't by his own bodily needs. He was concentrating when suddenly he heard his brother Cygnus' voice call out to him telepathically.

"Opulous, where are you?" Cygnus called faintly

"Cygnus?" Opulous asked, surprised to hear from him.

"Yeah, where are you?"

"New Island, why? Is something wrong?"

"The family is regrouping, and we're going to come pick you up tomorrow morning. Unless, that is, you don't want to come back…"

"Of course I do!"

"Great! We'll be there around 8-ish!"

The telepathic link closed just as suddenly as it had opened, and Opulous was left contemplating his family and his old home. Then another idea struck him: he could supplement his work with the programs and data in the computer in the bunker at home! In fact, if he went back there and used the more modern computers he could probably circumvent the problems he was having using the terribly outdated machinery here!

A new surge of ideas caused a wave of impatience to break loose in Opulous' mind. He dumped his entire program onto one of the hard drives, stuffed it with as much data from the others drives as it could fit, and shut down the station to take it with him. He then decided to go for broke and took out a bunch of other drives too, not wanting to miss out on any of the data they held. Then, without thinking about the distance it would cover, Opulous locked onto his old home and teleported there.

When Opulous emerged outside the bunker the hard drives clattered and fell to the ground haphazardly. He fell to his knees and panted, the teleport had drained all of his energy, and he hadn't had very much energy left to begin with after going for so long without sleeping. His muscles now felt like they were made from lead. He slowly laid himself down on the dried winter grass and tumbled into sleep a few minutes later.

When Opulous awoke it had been nearly 12 hours. The morning sun had already begun its daily climb into the sky and Opulous realized that it must have been long past 8 o'clock. He frantically reached out telepathically to contact Cygnus.

"Cygnus? Are you out there?"

"Goddamn it Opulous, where have you been? We've been searching the lab on New Island for 45 minutes trying to find you!" Cygnus' voice responded angrily.

"I teleported straight home last night. I was going to tell you, but I was so drained afterwards that I collapsed and fell asleep!"

"Right. Nice one Op. If you had just teleported over here to Asha's you could have met up with the rest of us!"

"I wanted to work on something using the lab computers in the bunkers!" Opulous said, trying to defend himself and feeling quite embarrassed over his stupidity.

"Alright, fine. We'll be down there in about an hour." Cygnus replied.

As soon as their communiqué was over, Opulous eagerly gathered up all his looted hard drives like pirate booty and hauled them down into the bunker. It was a major project by itself for Opulous to figure out how to connect them to the lab's computers, their sockets were outdated and incompatible with the cables in his father's computers. Not to mention the fact that they were far too massive to fit inside the cases of the smaller modern computers. Opulous found a very roundabout solution that involved using his own mind as a relay by psychically reading the data off of each drive and transferring it into the memory banks of the computers. It turned out to be an incredibly slow, tedious process since the data formats were different between them as well, so Opulous had to run a conversion protocol over every bit after dumping it onto the lab computers.

Compared to his last week of working though, the hour it took for Opulous' family to arrive seemed like a split second to him. He was concentrating deeply on transferring the data when he felt Melicia's arms curl around his shoulders.

"Guess who!" Melicia giggled.

"One moment please." Opulous said in monotone. He needed to complete the transfer of a video file without interruption to prevent it from being corrupted.

"What's he doing in there?" Venius' voice called from the top of the stairs to the bunker.

"I don't know, looks like he's feeling up some slabs of electronics!" Melicia replied.

Opulous put down the drive he had been working on and opened his eyes. "I was transferring some data telepathically." He quipped.

Melicia gave him a slanted smile and the two of them climbed out of the bunkers to meet the others. Opulous saw the hover car and hover van belonging to the Ketchums parked on the lawn, disgorging his family in tight clumps. Ashley and Asha were helping Nolus and Cygnus squeeze out of the side door like clowns emerging from a clown car.

"Here's the goose that we've been chasing!" Melicia said triumphantly as they emerged, holding his robotic arm up like that of a champion boxer.

"The most elusive specimen of _Dorkus totalus_ yet observed in the field!" Venius added with a hearty laugh as he walked alongside them.

Nolus took Opulous' organic hand and gave it a mighty squeeze as the two groups met. "So how did your 'journey of self discovery' go?" he inquired.

"Amazing!" Opulous marveled. "You saw what had been built on New Island, you were there looking for me. I spent practically my whole week there, absorbed in study!"

"You weren't bashing your robotic hand against any of it were you?" Cygnus joked, eliciting another laugh from Venius.

"No but I did also discover another new feature of my hand. Look!"

Opulous made a strange fidgety motion with the wrist of his robotic arm and a long, slender tritanium blade unfolded and extended out of his palm.

"Awesome!" Venius breathed his approval.

"That's not all, watch this!"

Opulous concentrated a little bit of psychic energy through his arm and it collected over the edge of the blade in the form of an extremely thin film of hot plasma. The blade now glowed a soft incandescent blue.

"It can cut through solid steel like butter when I do this." Opulous said.

Nolus looked less than impressed, but everyone else scooted in a little closer to get a sharper look. Opulous stopped the plasma after they were satisfied and retracted the blade.

"And to top it all off, watch this!"

Opulous saw a large boulder a couple hundred feet away sitting next to the rocky cliffs and raised his robotic tail to point at it. The glowing lights along the length of the tail intensified significantly and it began to emit a deep electrical hum. After a few seconds a little slot on the tip of his tail opened up like a gun barrel and fired a beam of blue light past everyone and struck the rock. The rock heated up bright red, then yellow, then white, and then melted into a pile of magma. Opulous' shot finished and the little armor plates along the tail popped open on joints and jets of hot air hissed out as it cooled.

"My god Opulous, the med bay turned you into a walking arsenal!" Ashley exclaimed.

"I never knew dad was so good at designing weapons!" Cygnus said, staring at the now solidifying magma pile.

"I bet it was mom who designed all that." Satoria piped up. "She must have figured that if we needed the med-bay to replace entire limbs like this, that we would surely have been in a situation where we needed them to have built-in weapons!"

"Yeah, she had to have realized that if we couldn't use our powers to re-grow new limbs then we definitely couldn't use them to defend ourselves anymore." Tamista added.

"So… What exactly is this big project you mentioned to me?" Cygnus asked, changing the subject suddenly. "You sounded totally gung-ho about it."

"Come down to the lab and I'll show you!" Opulous said eagerly.

Opulous led the gaggle over to the bunker and set his hand on top of the console to mentally control it. He activated its holo-screen and dug out the little slideshow he had created to show them.

"When I was staying in the Team Rocket Lab on New Island," Opulous began, "I discovered that many of their old hard drives were still intact and had data leftover on them."

Opulous picked up one of the drives in question and passed it to the group so that they could examine it.

"On these drives not only did I find the complete genetic code of our grandfather Mewtwo, but also the program they had used to create it from the base sample of Mew's DNA."

A picture of Mew appeared on the screen and slowly morphed into that of Mewtwo.

"I'm not sure if the thought of this ever occurred to you, but our species has always been hampered by the fact that we have to clone ourselves to reproduce. Because we only have one bloodline, and because it takes years to manually modify DNA enough to create a new generation of unique children, it's impossible for us to reproduce quickly enough or without inbreeding to make our own society. So the-"

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!" Venius interrupted suddenly. "Who said anything about building a society?"

"I did! Do you really want the humans to be able to wipe out our entire species with one bombing attack? If they had dropped more bombs in that last attack they could have killed all of us in one fell swoop! That would be a terrible way for us to end after dad and grandfather fought so hard, don't you think?" Opulous scolded.

"I don't know about you Opulous, but I'm not exactly ready to have kids just yet." Cygnus said.

"We don't have to right away, just let me finish please!" Opulous said with an irritated tone.

Nobody interrupted again, so Opulous continued: "The program I'm designing will be able to automatically modify the DNA sequence we put into it so that the resultant clone is a complete genetic stranger. So in a way, they won't really be like our children. I hope that it would only take a handful of hours for the program to process the genetic code, but it should only take a few days at the maximum, which is a huge improvement over the years it took our father to create us. If we use it to create a large enough starter population, we can start a society and never have to use cloning again!"

There was a stunned silence as Opulous finished his presentation. Everyone, including Ashley and Asha, looked absolutely floored. He could sense that it wasn't his software that had shocked them, but the idea of them actually starting a whole society.

"First of all," Ashley began, "Your software is ambitious and impressive. But really, are you ready for such a huge commitment? Especially when there is still a large element of the human population that wants to see you dead?"

"I'm not ready for it that's for sure!" Venius exclaimed.

"Yeah, me too!" Cygnus added.

"Listen, we'll take it gradually!" Opulous said. "We'll only start out with a few children and work up as we go!"

"I think it'll be great to have kids!" Melicia piped up. "I can't wait to get started!"

"We're not going to start right away though; I still want to finish my own personal education." Opulous said.

"That brings up another issue that we need to address." Tamista interjected. "Now that we've decided to stick together, where are we going to live? It's not like we can live out of your lab and Venius' cave. Are we going to build a new house here or move somewhere else?"

"I don't think we should build over the remains of the old house, it would be like living on a graveyard. We should find a new place to live." Nolus said sentimentally.

"Anyone got any ideas where we should go?" Cygnus asked.

"I don't want to sound like an ungrateful ass, but I don't think my house could fit all of you. It was a miracle that we could fit six of you last night!" Ashley said.

"How about New Island? Opulous obviously enjoyed it there!" Venius said with a snicker.

"That place was a dump and you know it." Opulous said tonelessly.

"How about Purity Canyon?" Satoria chirped. "It's remote and hard to reach, it has a great warm and wet climate for growing food, and humans barely ever get close to it."

"But I don't think we should sully such a beautiful place by building in it!" Nolus protested with special disgusted emphasis on the word 'building'.

"You know we don't make huge muddy polluted messes when we build things! Psychic construction is ecologically friendly, we can power our home with solar energy, and it'll take hardly any space out of a vast natural preserve. It's not like we'll be throwing garbage everywhere and shooting wild Pokemon to get it done!" Opulous said.

"Sounds good to me!" Melicia said.

"I love the idea! It would be a great place to raise kids!" Satoria added.

"It'll be a little stormy living in a place like that, but we'll be so far from humanity that it sounds game to me." Venius said.

Everyone looked at Nolus to see what he had to say. "Alright, fine. I trust you guys not to abuse the place."

**Chapter XXIII – CVI**

Cygnus had never built anything in his life, he was certainly no architect. Opulous had designed their new house for them and was providing them with instruction and directions on how to build it. Opulous had gotten the idea to link all seven of their minds together so that they could act collectively, and to Cygnus' surprise it worked astonishingly well. He could sense where Opulous wanted every nail, every pipe, and every wire, and he could sense who was responsible for different parts that needed to be built. They didn't need a single word of verbal communication between each other to know what to do, when to do it, and who should do it. They all used their psychic powers in their work; they cut pipes, threaded wires, nailed boards, welded steel and lifted beams into place with their minds. Their new house took shape with unbelievable speed as they all worked together in perfect co-ordination.

To a human layperson, it looked like the house was building itself while Cygnus and his siblings just sat there concentrating. The beams lifted up into place and the walls and floors assembled themselves over them methodically. Pipes extended up inside the walls as they solidified and wires crawled like snakes up them. Huge puffs of foamy insulation bloomed inside them and tiling flew up and latched onto their outsides like scales falling off in reverse.

All in all it took less than one hour to build the home, a feat that even the most dedicated human contractor could never imagine. The house was two stories tall with a basement and had over 3,000 square feet of floor space. The roof was made up entirely of weather-proofed high efficiently solar panels, and it had a large greenhouse for growing food nearby.

"That was great!" Opulous' voice echoed through all their minds. "Ready to do the next one?"

Their plans had changed a little bit in the week since Opulous' little presentation back at the lab. Opulous had stopped work on his program to research and learn everything about architecture and home building, and Ashley and some of her friends gathered up enough money to buy the building materials they needed. They hit a stroke of luck when they discovered that there were several Protectorate storehouses full of supplies that had yet to be confiscated and redistributed after the organization's dissolution. They decided to build four houses with all they found; one house per brother, and the sisters were going to stay one each with Cygnus, Nolus and Venius. That way when they were ready in the future to have children they wouldn't have to cram everyone into one immense house. Cygnus was going to live with Tamista, Nolus with Satoria and Venius with Melicia. Opulous had volunteered to be the odd man out living alone, but he wouldn't truly be alone since they were going to be neighbors after all. They had found a patch of clear land in the canyon big enough to fit all four houses side by side.

The last house was finished by nightfall, and there was still a sizeable pile of construction supplies leftover. Opulous took them to his house for storage, and the seven of them stood together to admire their workmanship. Each house was designed with a unique floor plan and furnishings, each was painted a different subdued color, and each was hooked up to a large well that drew upon the water table underneath the canyon. The solar panels were supplemented by small receivers that could draw upon the energy of the Blue River when sunlight was sparse.

"Well, ready to move in?" Nolus asked suddenly.

They all looked at each other hesitantly for a second or two. It almost felt like they were saying goodbye to each other even though they would be right next door. Cygnus was the first to walk over to his new home, and Tamista followed behind him as he walked onto the porch and opened the door. He heard the footsteps of the others as they did the same.

Cygnus' home was designed with his love of the outdoors in mind. There were large windows everywhere to give him a stunning view of the forest around them, but these windows were made with triple-reinforced solid polyplexiglass to resist the intense storms that always passed through the canyon. The living room was spacious and had a large holo-TV and a treadmill for Cygnus if he wanted to keep up on the latest news while exercising. There weren't any paintings or knick-knacks to decorate the place and give it a homey feeling yet, so it looked a bit bare.

"Well, now what?" Tamista asked him as he closed the door behind them.

"I don't know… Before all this I was always busy studying or having fun with the rest of the guys. Now, I don't know.

"Well, if Opulous really does want us to start a society at some point in the future, we're going to have to study up on how humans run their society and learn up on it." Tamista suggested.

"Hey Cygnus, come to your west kitchen window!" Nolus' voice called telepathically.

Cygnus walked across the living room, through the kitchen and opened the window. He saw Nolus leaning out his window next door holding what appeared to be a water balloon. He wound his arm up in preparation for throwing it.

"Oh no you don't!" Cygnus laughed and slammed the window closed. The water balloon burst on it with a wet splut.

"Going at it with the neighbors already?" Tamista giggled, entering the kitchen behind him.

"I'll bet by 9 o'clock I'll be yelling at them to turn that music down!" Cygnus laughed.

**Epilogue**

Flying over Mt. Kana was always a huge risk, even in the most modern flying vehicles. Storms could boil up over the other side of the Canyon at any time, ushering in winds violent enough to rip down sturdy old trees. Ashley's hover van was hardly modern now, and the winds could easily knock it around and smash it into the ground below if they were to encounter a strong enough downdraft. But the sky was mercifully clear as Ashley brought them over the lip of the mountain. Asha looked through the window and gasped in delight at the beauty of the forests below; the trees of Purity Canyon were blooming for spring and showering the whole scene with soft pink petals.

"Wow!" Asha marveled. "I've never seen this place bloom so intensely!"

Asha and Ashley both marveled at the canyon's beauty as they passed over it. After a few minutes they found the clearing where the houses stood and began to descend. Asha peered through her window and saw a large gaggle of children running chaotically around the clearing in front of the houses playing a game of swordfight.

"Holy shit, would you look at all the kids!" Ashley exclaimed. "We neglect to visit them for 10 years and they build a whole tribe!"

"12, 13, 14, I count 15 of them down there!" Asha said, trying to keep track of them as they sprinted around the lawn. "Looks like Opulous' program was a stunning success!"

The kids halted their game and all pointed up at their van as they came within visual range. Some of them sprinted inside and others hovered up towards the van to get a closer look. One of them poked his face up next to the glass and peered in at Asha curiously and she gave him a friendly smile. He gave her a silly face and flew back down to the houses faster than them.

They landed quietly and stepped out of the van into the waiting crowd. The children immediately flooded them with questions.

"Are you Aunt Ashley?"

"How old are you?"

"Do all other humans look like you?"

"What are those things tied to your feet?

"Why are you so much shorter that dad?"

"Hey, calm down kids, listen to me!" Ashley said loudly. "Where are your parents?"

"They're inside!" They all said in unison.

"Except for our dad, he's napping on the porch!" A smaller girl with sky-blue fur said, pointing to Opulous' house.

Asha and Ashley tried to push their way through the crowd, but the kids resumed their rapid-fire questioning and clustered around them so that they had to step cautiously to avoid stepping on their feet.

"How come you never visited us before?"

"Is it true you knew grandpa Tanis?"

"Yeah, what was he like?"

"Did he really have gold on his head?"

"Or a robotic arm like my dad?

"How cool was it when he beat Ares?"

"It must have been hard for you going up against Ares without powers!"

"What's it like not to have powers? Is it boring?"

"Does it hurt?"

"Kids, quiet down! You don't wake your dad up!" Asha said, pointing to the porch where Opulous was supposedly napping.

"He's not dad for all of us!"

"Yeah, he's only Amara, Kira, Jerin, Torrell and Jacobus's dad!"

"Whoever's dad he is, let's be quiet and not wake him up!" Ashley pleaded.

They managed to push their way through the crowd and up onto the porch of Cygnus' house. Ashley reached up to knock the door, but it swung open right before her knuckles could strike it. Tamista was the one who answered and her eyes lit up with joy when she saw them.

"Ashley, Asha! I'm so glad to see you two again!"

Tamista, who had seemed to have grown another few inches since they had last met, had to bend over to give Asha a hug. Asha felt a little of the wind squeezed out of her, but it was warm and affectionate nonetheless. Cygnus came up behind her with a big grin on his face.

"Well if it isn't my two favorite humans on Earth!" He boomed happily. "Come here!"

Ashley was the only other one open so he hugged her too. Once they had finished, Cygnus invited them into the house. After ten years Cygnus had slowly collected various knick-knacks and decorations to deck out his house with. Asha noticed that he was especially fond of landscape paintings, as there were several hanging from his walls wherever there weren't windows. He had an old fashioned fireplace in his den; the mantle was decorated with a few sculptures of various Pokemon.

"What's this?" Ashley asked curiously, grabbing a little clear plastic display case with a glass shard in it.

A look of shame suddenly fell over Cygnus' face and Tamista turned away as if unable to watch the conversation.

"Do you remember that mirror that you gave my father?" Cygnus asked softly.

"Oh no…" Ashley said sadly, and looked at the shard intently. "It must have broke in the wreckage when your old house was bombed.

"I'd be lying to let you think that Ashley, and I can't bear to be dishonest with you. Even though I am ashamed of what happened." Cygnus said.

"What do you mean?" Ashley asked.

"Well, not long after our home was bombed, Opulous dug through the rubble of the house to see if he could find the hard drives of dad's computer so we could read his old personal log entries. Instead, he found your family's mirror, still intact by some miracle. But that day dad's death was hanging pretty heavy over us, and our moods were foul and unfriendly. All four of us, even Opulous, got into an argument over should get the mirror as inheritance. We were on the verge of dueling it out with real energy swords, and Venius and I were childishly trying to tug it away from each other telekinetically. Then for some bizarre reason, we both seemed to lose our grips on it at once and it fell to the ground and broke."

"Oh…oh no." Ashley said quietly.

"It was strange enough that our powers could somehow lose their grip on it, but to add to the weirdness it didn't shatter like normal glass would. Instead of breaking into hundreds of tiny shards, it only broke into four large ones. We decided that perhaps that this was a little too convenient to be ignored, so we each took one of the four shards for our houses."

"Well, you know it was always supposed to be a haunted mirror." Ashley said with a sudden smile. "Maybe the spirits of older Ketchums kept it from breaking in a way that's too difficult to fix!"

"…You're not angry at us for breaking it?" Cygnus asked a little timidly.

"No actually, I think that if anything this is probably just a little more proof of the weird stuff that always seems to happen around it. Besides, you couldn't ask for a cleaner break than that could you? It's eerily close to a perfect quarter!"

There was a faint whooshing pop and Venius and Nolus appeared out of a teleport next to Cygnus and Tamista. They were quickly followed by Opulous, Melicia, and Satoria. They exchanged equally joyful greetings and many more bear hugs. Asha noticed that there seemed to be colorful swirls and smiley faces drawn all over Opulous' robotic arm and tail.

"What happened to you Op?" Ashley giggled. "It looks like one of the kids was drawing on you while you were napping!"

"Yeah, it was Emael. You'll have to talk with him soon Venius." Opulous said calmly. He erased the markings quickly with his mind.

"So, what's the occasion of this visit?" Satoria asked intently. "I know you're both normally too busy to fly out here to Purity Canyon, so it must be big!"

"They're finally going to do Dupree's execution today, and the four of you are actually invited to come watch."

There was a stunned silence for a few moments before Venius spoke up. "I'm there."

"Me too." Cygnus added.

"Yeah, I'm in." Nolus said. Everyone stared at him for a moment; they knew that he hated the death penalty.

"Is there anybody who isn't coming?" Ashley asked half jokingly.

Nobody responded, obviously all seven of them wanted to be there.

"Oh jeez. I know my little van won't hold all of you guys, so most of you will have to fly behind us."

"Who's going to watch the kids?" Tamista asked suddenly.

"I'll do it!" Asha piped in. Everyone stared at her for a moment.

"Not that I don't think you wouldn't be able to handle kids in general, but imagine a human with no powers trying to handle kids who could quite easily throw him or her into the upper atmosphere with a blink of the eye. I'm not saying the kids would do something like that either, but let's just say that he/she wouldn't be able to stop them if they decided to start drawing all over the walls or creating pyrokinetic fireworks." Tamista said gently.

"Actually, I might have a solution for that!" Opulous said brightly.

"Let me guess, you've got a brand new gadget that you just finished for this situation?" Melicia asked as if this were a regular occurrence.

"Exactly. Though your initial reactions will probably be negative, I ask you to give me a chance here." Opulous said. He opened his hands in front of him and with a little flash of blue he teleported his device into his hands.

"What is it?" Ashley asked curiously.

"It's a limited-range psionic disruptor that I programmed to only function on our kids. Its field strength is gentle enough to only make them a little dizzy if they try to use their powers, but strong enough to keep them from doing anything harmful." Opulous replied.

"Why should I subject my kids to something as foul as that?" Nolus huffed angrily. "After how much pain and suffering it has caused our kind?"

"Well, you can always be the one to stay behind and watch the kid Nolus, if you really want to spare them an hour and a half tops of a harmlessly low field?" Opulous suggested.

"I promise I won't go and turn it up to dangerous levels while you guys are gone." Asha said, her voice implying how absurd it sounded.

Nolus looked around at the others to see if they had any objections similar to his.

"As much as I agree with Nolus, I trust Opulous not to build anything dangerous. After all, this thing would affect his kids too!" Cygnus said.

The others nodded in general agreement and Nolus finally assented.

"When do we have to leave?" Opulous asked, setting the disruptor on a table gently.

"We still have about 10 or 15 minutes before we have to go, but I figure it can't hurt to get there early." Ashley said. "Are you sure you can handle all those kids Asha?"

"15 kids isn't-"

"20 actually, my 5 are inside studying right now." Venius interrupted.

Asha looked a little surprised for a bit, but her look of determination returned. "Bring 'em on!"

The whole group walked outside and Venius' five kids all emerged from his house. Asha realized that he had probably called them all out telekinetically, explaining why she hadn't heard it.

"Everyone listen up!" Cygnus called to the kids loudly so that they would clam up. "We're going on some errands with Ashley here, and Asha is going to stay behind and watch you all until we get back. That means no powers until we get back!"

"Awwww!" The kids groaned in unison.

"And to make sure that nobody is tempted, I'm turning on a little disruptor field that will keep you from using them until then. It won't hurt, but it'll make you feel woozy if you try!" Opulous added.

The kids moaned even louder that time.

"Asha, if they prove to be too much for you, you can call me on my cell." Ashley said soothingly. "I'll tell one the brothers to teleport back here."

Ashley climbed into the van and three of the four brothers climbed in after her. Cygnus was the fourth who couldn't fit inside the van, so he and the sisters flew behind the van as it started and hovered up off of the ground.

"Oh, and kids, stay outside until we get back! That way Asha won't have to chase you around the houses!" Cygnus called as he flew off. "And feed Luxxy for Venius!" Then they were gone into the distance.

"I don't think I'll need to chase you guys down anyway, since I have some stories for you that I'm sure will keep you sitting in rapt silence!" Asha bragged at the horde of kids.

"We wanna play!" one of the kids protested.

"Oh, so you don't want to hear the story of how I saved all your dads' lives once?" She said slyly.

The kids all stared at her with a sudden look of impressed shock. They all crowded in closer to listen.

"Sit down everyone and get settled, let me show you something!" Asha said, and pulled a Pokéball off of her breeder's belt.

Cygnus had a terrible sick feeling as he and the others were lead through the hallways of the prison toward the execution room. He knew this particular prison; it was the same maximum-security facility where he had been held after the teleporting incident at his father's rave party. The walls had gotten a little dirtier during the years, but otherwise it was nearly exactly the same as he remembered. The memories of his six months of imprisonment swam up into his mind as he and the others strode quickly into the highest security sector, and he could suddenly recall the feeling of those horrible nightsticks slamming into his body again.

When a couple of prison guards saw Cygnus as he passed, their expressions tumbled into shock and they pointed their fingers at Cygnus in amazement.

"Holy shit! Is that…?" one of them stammered quietly.

"I think it is…" The other whispered.

Cygnus felt an involuntary smile cross his face. "Hey boys, enjoying the good life?" He asked and waved at them genially with that same smile.

Cygnus guffawed heartily at their facial expressions well after they had turned the corner out of sight of them. All of his terrible memories had been instantly wiped away by their looks of sheer terror and surprise.

"What's up with you Cygnus? Remember a really funny joke?" Tamista asked.

"Oh, those guards that looked like they were about to shit bricks, I knew them. They sometimes guarded my cell; they were terrified of me!"

"No wonder they looked so horrified!" Satoria laughed, "To see you walking around here again, free this time must be like a nightmare to them!"

They all got another good laugh out of this before reaching a single, clean white plastic door with a skull and crossbones printed on it; the execution room. The single guard that was leading their group swiped his card across the reader next to the door and it swooshed open.

The execution room was empty for now, the guard ushered them into the little booth with the one-way glass that politicians used to watch the lethal injections. Once they were all snugly inside, Cygnus had to hover a few inches to see over the heads of his siblings. He watched as Dupree, now an utter mess with rings under his eyes and his hair grey and scraggly, was brought in. The guards made him lie down on the table and began to tie him down. One of them pointed toward the one-way window and said something that they couldn't hear through the soundproof walls, and an expression of utter sadness fell over his tired face.

The psionic disruptors of the prison seemed to have been taken down or deactivated, so out of curiosity Cygnus read Dupree's mind to see what the guard had said. He felt Dupree's fear wash over him in great sluggish waves when he entered his mind, it made him feel like he was going to vomit and pass out. He dug into Dupree's short term memory and heard the guard's voice: "All of Tanis' sons and Shakara's daughters are in that booth right now, waiting to watch you die."

Cygnus couldn't decide what to think about this. A part of him thought that maybe they were being a little too cruel to the man, but the other part enjoyed seeing him suffer as much as possible after what he had done to their family. Cygnus decided not to say anything and just let it slide, but he continued monitoring Dupree's mind.

Suddenly the speakers overhead in their booth turned on, so Cygnus didn't need to read Dupree's mind to hear what was being said.

"Do you have any last words?" one of the guards said.

"I just wanted to do what was best to protect humanity from them." He said with an especially nasty emphasis on 'them'.

Cygnus frowned and then decided that there was still nothing to cruel for Dupree now. If he was still this hateful even when facing down the Grim Reaper then he was truly irredeemable.

The medical attendant spooled the plastic tubing out from a panel in the wall and put a fresh needle in the end. Dupree flinched and Cygnus could feel the twinge of it piercing his skin over the psychic link he had established. Then he felt Dupree tumble into unconsciousness as the sodium thiopental poured into his veins and flowed up into his brain. The executioner dawdled about with the next needle and accidentally dropped it on the floor. He picked it up gingerly and began to sterilize it slowly and methodically, not bothering keeping track of how long it was taking. It took him almost 5 minutes to get the needle ready and attached to the next tube.

Cygnus hadn't bothered to sever his psychic connection to Dupree; he found it soothing to be linked to someone who was asleep. The executioner finally inserted the second needle and the pancuronium bromide began to pump into Dupree next. After a few moments, Cygnus felt its effects upon him over the link, which proved frightening. He realized that he should only be able to really feel it if either Dupree was waking up or their mind link was complete. He knew the link wasn't complete too.

After a few moments Cygnus could sense that Dupree was indeed starting to wake up little by little, but was unable to tell them about it because of the paralysis. Horrified, Cygnus terminated his link to stop that terrible suffocation feeling, the feeling of the paralysis stopping his breathing. But he didn't make an outcry, didn't try to stop the execution, and didn't say a word. He just hovered there and watched Dupree's silent form lying on the table and imagined how much that feeling was intensifying.

The third and final needle with the heart-stopping potassium chloride was injected, and in less than 5 minutes Dupree was declared dead. Cygnus and the others weren't allowed to leave their booth until his body was taken away, so they had the pleasure of watching as his corpse was rolled onto a stretcher and wheeled out of a back door.

The eight of them, including Ashley, returned home underneath a pall of uncomfortable silence. The execution seemed woefully unsatisfying, it hadn't provided any of them true closure and seemed to create a slight twinge of guilt. Nolus in particular felt terrible about it. He had been just as eager as his brothers to see Dupree put to death beforehand, but during and afterwards he could almost feel sorry for Dupree. Watching him die just brought back his own pain over Tanis' death and reminded him of how much he hated death as a whole. It served to strengthen his resolve against the death penalty.

Venius too was unsatisfied by the execution, but for a completely different set of reasons. He felt that Dupree was good for starters, but that there needed to be more executions. He wanted to see the psi-slayers all rooted out and killed, and perhaps a lot more violently than with a few needles. The more he dwelled on it, the more it haunted him. He kept on repeating to himself that so many of them would get away with it and that there was nothing he could do about it. It tormented him during their whole flight back home, and only the sight of his children could expel the anger from his mind.

There was a huge congregation sitting around Asha including all of the children, all of Asha's Pokemon, and Luxxy and her pack siblings. Asha's Absol was sleeping gently in her lap and her Skarmory was roosting in a nearby tree. The van landed and they hardly even looked up to see. Cygnus and the others gathered at the outskirts of the group to listen.

"-Then it was just my Abraham here against his entire team!" Asha said in an excited tone while stroking Absol. "His Xatu had swept away the rest of my tiny little team, so it was up to him. Abraham KO'd Xatu with a critical Night Slash attack and brilliantly wiped out the Hitmonlee with a Psycho Cut attack. Then things got tough, his last team member was a Mightyena, which meant that neither of us could pull off an effective attack against the other. Then I remembered that-"

"Sorry to interrupt Asha, but it's time for the kids' daily meditation." Nolus said gently.

Again the crowd of kids booed and moaned in disapproval.

"Meditation? What for?" Asha asked.

"It's part of the training program to help them learn to control their powers properly. Meditation promotes mental clarity and self discipline, both of which are vital to a powerful psychic." Nolus said wisely. "Would you mind giving me your spot?"

Asha stood up politely and Nolus teleported a small musical instrument into his hands. "You and your mom are welcomed to stay and try it!"

"Sure, but what's that you've got there?" Asha asked.

"It's a wooden Ocarina, my father brought it back from Hyrule for me once when I was a little kid. Opulous dug it out of the ruins of our old home a few years ago. I've been playing it since. It's got a soothing timbre to it that makes it great for calming your mind."

"You handle the meditation Nolus, we've got work to do." Opulous called as he walked toward the houses. "I'll turn off the disruptor."

Venius and Opulous walked off while Cygnus, Ashley and the sisters sat down near Nolus. Nolus raised the Ocarina to his mouth and began to play. At first Asha didn't know how he could play an instrument designed for human hands with only three fingers, but with a closer inspection she could see that he was using his powers to block the holes his fingers couldn't reach.

Nolus didn't exactly play a song, but a small melody that repeated over and over again. The kids all closed their eyes and sat quite still as Nolus played, and Asha followed their example. She listened to the haunting notes that Nolus played on the Ocarina and sat there, but she didn't really see the benefits of it. Her mind didn't seem to clear in any way, and she just felt boredom creep in. Eventually she opened her eyes, knowing that everyone else's eyes were closed and they probably wouldn't care anyway.

Asha stared at Nolus first, admiring how much taller he seemed to have gotten. His shoulder/horn/tail fur seemed to have grown out a bit longer and his fur color had gotten a little darker. Next she looked at Luxxy, who had by now evolved from a Shinx into a Luxio. She was sitting in the front of her pack, which consisted of her other 5 siblings who had all evolved into Luxios as well. Most of them were either meditating along or sleeping, but Luxxy's eyes were wide open and prowling the surroundings like those of a watchful guardian. Next was Cygnus, whose chest scar had faded considerably. It looked like that he or one of his siblings had tried to use their recover abilities on it once or twice with only modest results. His fur tufts were a bit longer too, especially the fur on the tip of his tail. He twitched it back and forth as he sat and the fur danced and flowed over the grass.

Last but not least were the children. Asha had asked a few of their names during the time she had babysat them, but still didn't know the majority of them. Asha had been especially impressed by the fact that the brothers had given all of the children surnames. It really seemed that they were going for their own society! Out of all the children, the biggest troublemaker was Emael Redclaw. He had been the one who had drawn on Opulous' arm, but he had also thrown rocks at her Skarmory, and even cursed at her when she tried to pause the storytelling to go feed Luxxy. He had orange fur with yellow stripes, green eyes, and horns the same shape as his father Venius'.

Other kids she had gotten to know included Amara Bluetail, Elemir Skygem AKA Ellie, and Jeselle Nevica. Amara was a shy girl from Opulous' family with sky blue fur and deep blue eyes, Ellie was an especially talkative girl from Cygnus' family with brown fur and eyes, and Jeselle was a Pokemon-loving girl from Nolus' family with dark purple fur. They had all been the most inquisitive of the bunch and Asha had stopped them to ask their names.

Nolus' Ocarina playing softly came to an end and Asha quickly shut her eyes so that they wouldn't see she hadn't been meditating with them. She slowly reopened them again and saw that the kids were slowly standing up and stretching. Ashley crept up behind her and laid her hand on her shoulder.

"About time we went home don't you think?" Ashley asked.

"Oh, do you suppose she can stay for awhile?" Nolus asked suddenly, walking over to them.

Ashley looked a little surprised. "Well, it's not like she's a kid anymore, it's up to her to decide. She graduated from the Pokemon University 4 years ago, and I don't know what her work schedule looks like." Ashley said.

"My schedule is clear for the next few days." Asha said.

"Great! I can even teleport you back when you need to!" Nolus said eagerly.

Asha felt a little stir of excitement at the thought of staying with Nolus and his family. "You don't think Satoria will mind?"

"Not at all! We have plenty of room, and I can't wait to introduce you to the rest of the kids!"

"Alright, sounds good to me! Just make sure you keep her away from any sugar!" Ashley said jokingly and walked back to her van.

End of Book I – To be continued in Book II: The Book of K'telle

A/N: So finally we see some revenge against the psi-slayers for what they did to Tanis and the brothers. With them effectively rooted out of political power and leaderless, the brothers were free to have children and build homes without fear of being bombed again. Now comes the long hard task of building an entire society from the ground up! Hope you'll stick with me because I have some seriously freaking epic plans for Book II!


	14. Part II: The Book of K'telle : Prologue

**The Four Mirrors**  
Sequel to 'Legacies'

By MMM/AJ

**A/N**: Here we go with Part II everyone! I don't think I've been this enthused about the trilogy in years, and I hope that you guys are too. The prologue here will be from the POV of someone familiar, and from then on we're going to see some from the 4 brothers and some from their descendents. Here's to a fun read!

**PART II: The Book of K'telle**

**Prologue – Guardian**

It's a common occurrence for Pokemon to return to Earth as spirits after death. Reasons can vary for their choice not to move on to the next plane, but those that stay usually end up following two different paths. Many of them, especially those of the low intelligence, take the forms of gaseous ghosts like Gastly or its ilk. While in this form it's relatively easy for them to interact with and manipulate the world of the living, but they lose all traces of their previous identity when they do. On the other hand, they can choose to manifest as pure spirits independent of physical form. That pathway makes it nearly impossible to interact with the physical world, but the subject maintains their identity. Every once in awhile they can gather enough energy to do minor things like move an object or make a noise, perhaps even show themselves for a second or two, but nothing as major as those who choose the path of the ghost Pokemon.

Tanis' death could be considered both untimely and violent, and he had many reasons to stay behind on Earth afterwards. When he chose to stay behind, he picked the form of a pure spirit, not wanting to be consumed in a ghost Pokémon's childish needs to scare people and pull pranks.

Invisible to the living and unable to make his presence known, Tanis spent his days watching over his family as they grew and prospered. On the day his grandchildren were born from Opulous' cloning tubes, he felt a pang of bittersweet sadness. Though it saddened him that he could never be a part of their lives, he was still overjoyed to have grandchildren. He never expected to have so many either; it came as a shock to him but not of the negative variety. He had always dreamed of their species expanding into a society to rival to humanity, but his sensible side had consigned it to the category of improbable fantasy. He had only mentioned it to Opulous once, and in an offhand way. He never imagined that Opulous would even remember it, let alone take it to heart and work to make it happen. He had known that Opulous' brilliance would one day overshadow his own, but he had never expected Opulous to use it to overcome their species' genetic diversity barrier.

Over the years, Tanis was content to simply watch from the shadows as his grandchildren grew and matured. He wanted to act as a spiritual guardian to them, but because their lives were so peaceful he hardly needed to intervene at all. One time a malicious Haunter wandered by and decided to torment them, but Tanis was able to reverse all of its tricks and drive it off with ease. He might not have been able to influence the physical world much any more, but he could damn well blast the crap out of ethereal type Pokemon if they crossed him. The Haunter had floated off weakly to regenerate itself, and if it had had any legs to walk with, it surely would have limped.

On the day his grandchildren finally came of age though, trouble began to stir in the 4 houses.

"What do you mean I can't?" Emael Redclaw thundered. "I have just as much of a right to have my own house as you now that I'm 18!"

"I'm not disputing your rights," Nolus retorted angrily, "I just don't want you clearing out any of this forest to build it!"

"Oh, so it's perfectly alright for you and your brothers to clear cut to build your own homes, but not if I do it?"

"We didn't touch a single tree when we built these homes!" Nolus bellowed, obviously taken aback at the thought. "This clearing was here when we arrived, and trees have grown in closer and closer to the houses in the years since!"

"Oh how convenient. I bet you were the one to plant them!" Emael said with a sour tone.

"Only a few of them!" Nolus said, now flustered instead of angry.

Venius, who had previously been upstairs, heard the outburst of anger and teleported down to interrupt. Unbeknownst to all three of them, Tanis's spirit was sitting in a nearby room watching them.

"What's going on here?" Venius asked calmly, appearing out of the air between the two of them.

"Nolus here says that he won't allow me to build my own house next door! He'd rather the trees have a better place to live than me!" Emael said indignantly.

A glimmer of anger appeared in Venius' eyes like he had just been severely insulted. "So you think that the home I have provided for you for 18 years is unsatisfactory?"

"N-no…" Emael stammered, all of his indignation deflated.

"You say the trees out there have it better when my brothers and I built this home just so I could raise you and the rest of the family?"

"No, that's not-"

"If this house is such a terrible place to live in, why don't you try living in a cave, or out there with the humans!" Venius said, emphasizing 'humans' with a special disgust.

"Dad, listen to me! I'm just tired of being cramped up in the same house with 6 other people! I want to build my own home like you did!"

"Uh-huh. Where exactly are you going to get the materials for this new house? Are you going to mine, refine, and mold the steel yourself? Do you know a lot about electrical engineering? Plumbing? Wood crafting and carving? And as Nolus quite finely put it, where do you plan to build? Purity Canyon hasn't exactly been thinning over the last few years, and I don't think you'll find that real estate is getting any cheaper out there in that big bad world!" Venius roared.

Venius' tirade was cut short and his expression of rage melted into shock. Nolus and Emael turned to see what it was that had caused his raging to grind to a halt, but they saw nothing but an empty dining room.

"You look like your train of thought just got hit with a nuke!" Nolus said. "What's wrong?"

Emael grinned a bit but didn't say anything.

"I saw… I have an idea." Venius said quietly. It seemed for a moment like he had decided not to say something.

"What kind of idea?"

"Emael, you'll have your own home." Venius said suddenly.

"What?!" Emael and Nolus both stammered in surprise.

"Nolus, let's go get Opulous and Cygnus. I think it's time we went to talk to the Governor of Johto."

Tanis grinned to himself as his four sons left. He had gathered up enough energy over the last few days to make himself visible for a few seconds, and in the heat of the argument he had done so in the corner of Venius' vision.

There was one thing about Venius that Tanis hadn't known until after death: Venius was much more sensitive to spirits than any of his brothers. It meant that Tanis could actually relay information to Venius mentally in short spurts. It worked best when Venius was asleep or meditative, as evidenced by Tanis' feat of delivering the mindgem to Venius so many years ago. But he could deliver some snippets of information to Venius even while he was awake, and he had done so at the same time as he appeared.

Tanis had been keeping an eye on current events and traveling around the world a bit, and he had noticed a recent debate over some polluted lands south of the Orre region of Japan. Ares had used these lands as a dumping ground for all the toxic waste his empire generated, rendering them uninhabitable to nearly all life. But no matter how toxic and swampy these lands were, he knew that if a few psychics of high caliber like his sons were to work together, they could clean it up telekinetically with Opulous' precise mind at the lead. It'd be a manner of telekinetically isolating the pollutants and teleporting them far out into space. Humans are incapable of cleaning like this though, to do it technologically would be incredibly expensive and infeasible. The Governors of the different regions had been arguing about what to do with this useless land, and so far no solution had been found. Tanis knew that if given a chance to unload it onto some group of suckers, these men would practically give the place away. It took less than a second to transmit all of that information to Venius.

Tanis smiled to himself as he watched Emael walk off with a big grin on his face. He had managed to stop the fight and could have even found a new home for his grandchildren. It validated his choice to stay behind on Earth, even though he knew he was missing out on the chance to meet his father on the other side

A/N: At 4 pages, this is probably the beefiest prologue I've written yet. That is is, until I finish revising and editing Crossing of the Paths. At any rate, we're about to plunge into the construction of an entire society of Mewtwos. If that sparks your interest in any way, then I think you'll find the next few chunks intensely interesting. Stay tuned!


	15. Part II: The Book of K'telle : Chunk 1

**The Four Mirrors**  
A Sequel to Legacies

By MMM/AJ

**A/N**: We're going to start out with some familiar territory here by taking it from Venius' POV. After that we'll get to see from the POV of one the new characters! This chunk has been a long time in the making because IRL has been busy lately and I've also been distracted a bit with friends. (You know who you are!) Anyway there's some major plot and character development here so I hope you'll enjoy!

**Chapter I – V1**

The Johto Government Administration Complex in Goldenrod City was one of the dullest and drabbest places Venius had ever seen. Endless seas of grey and taupe walls and cubicles filled the halls like a vast flat sea of colorless uniformity. Humans in equally drab business suits milled about their daily business, soullessly grinding away at their endlessly boring paperwork. They turned their heads and stared up at Venius and his brothers as the 4 of them walked through. To Venius it was almost like watching the heads of peels poking out of their hiding places in a big grey and taupe coral reef. They all watched warily, almost like Venius and his brothers were sharks or some other predators intruding upon their little reef of mediocrity.

They finally found the small waiting room outside the office of the Governor of Johto and walked up to the secretary's desk. When he saw them approach he jumped in his seat and spilled his coffee all over the floor in shock.

"We'd like to see the Governor please." Opulous said politely.

"D-d-do you have an appointment?" the secretary sputtered, staring at them partly in fear and partly in awe.

"What do you think?" Venius quipped sharply.

"Um…uhhh…just a second please." The man said, and climbed out of his seat clumsily and walked over to the door of the Governor's office. He opened it just wide enough to fit his head through and peeked in.

"Sir…the sons of Tanis want to see you."

"What? Who's Tanis?"

"The one that the psi-slayers murdered with a bombing run about 18 years ago, remember? One of the Mewtwo species."

"…Show them in!"

The secretary waved to Venius' group and they walked past him through the door as he opened it. The Governor was a short chubby man with an obvious toupee, but he had a look of kindness and generosity about him that seemed to have a calming effect on Venius. The nameplate on the desk read "Cardan Taman, Johto Gov.".

"What can I do for you fellows?" Taman asked.

"I wanted to discuss the dump-lands south of Orre. I'm interested in acquiring them." Opulous said, taking the initiative before his brothers could speak.

Taman's face passed through a myriad of emotions, starting with happiness and then confusion. "Well, that's great! I think…But I can't make that decision on my own you know, I'll have to talk to the other Governors."

"When should we come back?" Cygnus asked gently.

"Oh, you don't have to leave; I can call them all up for a holo-conference. I should think they'd like to see who was asking for ownership of that dump…err, place."

Venius chuckled a bit and they nodded a general agreement to the conference. Taman dialed various numbers into the digital interface in his desk and slowly the other Governors appeared in holo screens around his desk. First to appear was Colene Stefanick of Kanto, who had short black hair and a small transparent digital screen over her left eye. She was youthful and elegant despite how stuffy her professional clothing appeared. Next was Irwin Elwood of Hoenn, a middle-aged man with brown hair and ugly purple rings around his eyes that indicated a lack of sleep. The final two governors appeared simultaneously: Kurtis Genning of Sinnoh and Maris Pullano of Orre. Genning was wearing a military uniform of some type and had a pristine crew cut to attest to his meticulous obsession with perfection, and his face was marred with an ugly grimace of frustration. Pullano was an extremely thin and pale woman who appeared sickly and weak but still managed to seem dangerous.

"What the hell is so important that you had to call us all up lat-minute for a video conference?" Pullano droned tonelessly, giving Taman a lethal stare.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your schedules everyone, but I may have finally found a solution to our problems with the South Orre Dumplands. Someone is interested in acquiring them!" Taman said eagerly.

Pullano's face brightened dramatically, as if she had been under some sort of curse and Taman's words had instantly lifted it. "Really?! Who are they?"

"Right here. Everyone, these are my friends Opulous, Venius, Cygnus and Nolus." Taman said, gesturing to each of the brothers.

The Governors, who seemed to have been ignoring the brothers before, all turned and looked at them. Venius immediately felt a bit nervous when he saw Genning's face turn from irritated to enraged.

"What? But they're Pokemon! Pokemon can't legally own land!" Genning growled.

"I know what the law says, but-" Taman began, but Genning interrupted him.

"But what? You want to start a court case for the legal status of these animals? I don't have the time or the patience to sit through it, and I have doubts about your chances for success. Not that I'd support such an initiative in the first place." Genning said haughtily.

Venius ground his teeth but managed to suppress his anger. He didn't want to blow their chances.

"What are you going to use this land for?" Stefanick asked calmly before an argument could erupt.

In an instant Venius forgot his rage, it melted into a mild panic. He didn't want to give away the fact that they were going to build a town, perhaps eventually a city or a whole nation on this land, but he hadn't thought of any other explanation for it in the mean time. He mentally fumbled as he tried to think of something to say, but thankfully Nolus spoke before an awkward silence could fill in the gaps.

"We're starting a new environmental initiative of our own to clean up tainted lands so that wild Pokemon besides Grimers can live in them. We're going to use our psychic abilities to collect and isolate the toxins and then send them into space. We plan on living there during the restoration and hopefully afterwards to maintain the land, pending your approval." Nolus said amiably.

Besides Genning, the other governors seemed impressed. Venius got the distinct impression that perhaps part of the reason they were so impressed was that Nolus had managed to maintain his friendly demeanor despite Genning's angry tirade.

"An admirable goal indeed!" Elwood said with a tone of approval.

"I'm more than willing to give you the land free if it means putting a stop to the constant seepage of sludge into our farmlands and cities!" Pullano said eagerly.

"I think that if it weren't for the ownership law this would be a fantastic idea." Stafanick concluded.

"Well I won't let it stand! I'll take it straight to the Prime Minister if I have to!" Genning snarled.

"Wait, I have an idea!" Stefanick chimed in. "Why not designate the area as a Wild Pokemon Preserve, and also mark it as under renovation? As far as I know there's no law on the books that specifically forbids a Pokemon from holding the position of Caretaker. That way you could be legal permanent residents there and take responsible for the maintenance and development of the land."

"All in favor?" Taman asked happily.

Genning looked even sourer than before couldn't raise an objection. This time he abstained while the rest of the governors voted for it, and the holo-conference ended. Venius felt a sense of victory even greater than the time when he had watched Admiral Dupree being executed. He loved that look of fury and defeat on Genning's face and relished the thought of him having to deal with it for a few hours.

"Alright guys, you'll have to fill out some online forms for me and bring them back in a day or two. We still have to get the Prime Minister's approval, but he's not exactly a stingy asshole so I doubt he'll nix it. Especially since he's too busy handle economic issues right now to have to deal with vetoing a measure that the governors have majority on."

Venius took the digital pad that Taman presented them and glanced over the form. It looked complex and irritating but not impossible. He frowned briefly and handed it to Opulous.

"Thanks Mr. Taman, if you don't need anything else we'll be going now." Cygnus said politely.

"Actually, there was one thing I wanted to discuss before you go. Would one of you mind closing the door please?"

Venius quietly closed the door telekinetically and the lock made a gentle click. Taman looked a little spooked for a moment and then squeaked out a small self-derisive laugh.

"It's easy to forget the scope of your powers." He said nervously. "Now then. Do any of you know Shakara et Benca?"

Once again, Venius didn't quite know what to say, but one of his brothers picked up the slack.

"Yes, she was our aunt. What about her?" Opulous asked.

"Well, I may have a lot of paperwork to do here, but I have a story to tell you that demands I make time for it."

"Wait, if you're that busy then we can just read your mind. It'll only take a few moments." Opulous.

"Uhh, I don't know how comfortable I am with that…" Taman said.

"It's not like we're going to dig for your life secrets and personal shames, we'll only see what you want to show us." Cygnus said reassuringly.

Taman seemed to squirm as if he were being forced to sit on an anthill. His face twisted with indecision and he wrung his hands together uncomfortably. "Alright, go ahead."

Opulous did the actually mind reading by himself and simply transmitted everything he saw to Venius and the others to save time and energy. Venius understood why Taman was so hesitant to allow them to read his mind; he had been a part of a wing of soldiers specifically tasked to capture Shakara back during the time when the Psi-slayers had been in power. Apparently he was planning on smoothing over that fact or perhaps even hiding it from them in the verbal version. But the rest of the story was spotless from there; he had been stabbed and threatened by Shakara during their ambush upon her, but she decided to spare his life. He then followed her into the basement and managed to save her life just as one of military's hunter-seeker drones was about to fire a bolt of plasma into her face. Venius hoped that the story would give them much needed resolution over whether Shakara was truly dead or not, but to his disappointment it ended with her teleporting off to her fleet to take the fight to the UN.

"…Thank you." Cygnus said softly after they finished. "Even if this still doesn't completely answer what happened to her, at least we now know that she put up one hell of a fight."

"You're not mad at me for being a part of that group?" Taman asked.

"What would be the point of it? You left the Psi-slayers afterwards so it's obviously you learned from your mistake. You helped save our aunt, got out of that hellish organization with your reputation intact and now you've helped us find a new place to live. If anything I'd consider you a good friend!" Nolus said warmly.

Taman looked relieved. "Glad to hear it. If all goes well and you get that place of yours cleaned up, it could be good publicity for all of us."

**Chapter II – EI**

Emael Redclaw, Venius' first son, scowled as he strode through the city with his family. Anger seemed to fir his appearance, it complemented his deep orange fur and made him feel like he looked dangerous. Even though he was 18 years old he still had a bit of an immature attitude and liked to intimidate people. He continued frowning as they walked into the industrial district, the lines on his brow made the darker orange diamond mark on his forehead crinkle up a bit. He had one other distinctive set of markings:3 darker orange rectangle markings on his chest. Occasionally he would scratch at them like a nervous tick. Eventually their group found the building they were looking for.

"Montalbo Metals" Opulous read aloud from the sign.

Opulous, Venius and Cygnus lead their small procession towards the large industrial building, which was located on the Western edge of Olivine City. Emael was walking along behind his father and watching its front doors intently for any human activity. His orange eyes glinted with irritation as they approached. Behind him were Amara Bluetail, Eloniel Nevica, Talas Aurah and Aturiel Kesta. They were all mixed from the families of the 4 brothers and all had volunteered for this job, except for Emael himself.

"Really dad, is this necessary? I don't want to work with the humans!" Emael moaned.

"It's just as loathsome to me, but there's a lesson you've got to learn here Emael. You've got to work hard to earn the things you want in life, and often that includes doing things you find utterly hateful. Right now you want your own home, and building materials aren't going to magically materialize out of the air just because you want them. We may be powerful psychics, but we're not gods. So if you want the materials to build a new home, you're going to have to work for them!" Venius lectured.

Cygnus pushed open the doors and their group emerged into a large warehouse filled with the sounds of heavy machinery and workers moving about their business. There was a strong metallic flavor in the air; it made Emael feel a bit nauseous and light-headed as he followed his family into the work area. The workers were too busy to notice them as they passed the steel processors; they only gave them a few passing glances before going back to their work. One of the men on a catwalk above them shouted something indecipherable to Emael's ears, and the yell was relayed quickly by other men until it reached the far end of the plant

A short old man of impressive girth emerged from a door on the opposite side of the room and walked toward them. He looked to be 80 or 90 years old and at least 300 pounds in weight. Cygnus waved to him and he nodded curtly.

"Mr. Montalbo?" Cygnus asked.

"Yep, that's me. You must be Tanis' sons, Cygnus and Opulous. Good to meet ya." Montalbo said, offering a handshake.

Opulous took Montalbo's hand with his robotic one and gave him a vigorous shake. Montalbo stared at the arm, obviously very impressed.

"I see the steel your father bought from me went to good use! That's an amazing grip you have!" Montalbo said affably. "So, you said you had a deal for me?"

"Indeed, we need some steel and Tritanium and we knew that you were the man of choice to provide it. You were a good friend to our father and we knew we could trust you because of it."

"Your father was a terrific man; he helped me turn my little 10 man endeavor into the steel mill you see here today." Montalbo said.

"Hopefully we can help you expand even further. I'd like to introduce you to my sons Talas and Aturiel."

"These are my daughters Eloniel and Amara." Opulous added.

"And this is my son Emael." Venius finished.

"The family's been expanding hasn't it?" Montalbo laughed. "Glad to meet you, very!"

"We wanted to find work for them, and we figured that we could use the same deal as before. They'll do as much psychic labor as you need in exchange for a percentage of steel and Tritanium that we need to build."

"Sounds good!" Montalbo said, and turned to Emael and his siblings. "How much do y'all know about steel mining and processing?"

"Nothing sir, but we're eager to learn!" Talas said eagerly.

"Well if you learn as quickly as your grandpa did then we shouldn't have a problem!"

* * *

When Emael got home that night that same scowl was still painted over his face but it would have been much more sour and unfriendly if he hadn't been bringing back a huge payload of steel and Tritanium with him. He and the others had worked themselves so hard that none of them had any psychic energy left in them to carry their load home; they were forced to put it onto an older model hover trolley. It wobbled and dipped as Emael and Talas carefully guided it across the lawn towards Venius' house.

They had come up against a curious problem at the end of their shift: without any psychic energy leftover they were unable to teleport home or contact their parents. Thankfully Mt. Montalbo had offered to let them use his computer to send a video mail to Cygnus, who had then teleported all of them and their load of metals home.

"You can keep my share of the Tritanium in your place Emael, Eloniel and I are going to go home and study." Amara said amiably before taking off with her sister.

"Tell your dad I'll be over there in a few minutes to get to work on those blueprints!" Emael called after them as they ran off. Amara replied with a quick shout before vanishing through the door of her home.

"I'm going to get a drink, can you guys handle the trolley on the stairs without me?" Aturiel asked as they pulled it up onto the porch of the house.

"Yeah yeah yeah" Emael said dismissively.

Aturiel broke away and went to the kitchen as they entered the house, leaving Talas and Emael to ease the hover trolley down the stairs. It tilted dangerously the moment they guided it over the edge of the first step, obviously it wasn't designed to handle anything other than flat surfaces. Emael cursed Montalbo's cheapness for not buying modern trolleys and felt glad he had suggested that they tie down the girders. He scratched a spot on the back of his head that had been splashed with some kind of chemical during his refining lessons at the beginning of the day.

They found Venius in the basement working his life away on the holo-computer. Emael caught a quick glance of what looked like a schematic of some kind of weapon on the screen before Venius quickly flipped open another window over the top of it.

"Hey boys, how was your first day at work?" Venius asked.

"Tiring." Emael moaned. "That Montalbo worked us like we were androids who never got tired!"

Venius turned around from his console to look at them and smiled. "It looks like your work paid off though! If you keep it up at this rate for a few weeks and you'll have enough to build houses for the whole family!"

"Yeah well I've gotta split it with the others so that's inevitable anyway. It's going to take a long time this way unless the rest of the family pitches in too!" Emael complained.

"Or you could get a second job!" Talas joked with a grin.

"You know we're all going to be working together to clear out the Dumplands, so you really will be taking a second job of sorts Emael. Don't forget that!" Venius scolded.

"Yeah I know. Listen, I'm going over to Opulous' place to work on designing my home so that we'll be ready once I've earned enough building supplies." Emael said, heading back to the stairs and starting up with Talas following.

"Don't forget to feed Luxxy and the others before you go, tonight's steak night for them!" Venius called after them.

Emael and Talas went to the kitchen to feed Luxxy and they found Aturiel and Melicia chatting away. Melicia had big colored blotches of paint spilled all over her, apparently she was still working on her big family portrait. Aturiel was taking long gulps of water from a glass while she told him about how a real artist never used their psychic powers to wash paint out of their fur. Emael scratched the back of his head again, the itch just wouldn't go away.Z

"It doesn't burn at all as long as you don't get it in an open wound or something!" Melicia said, scrubbing away at her arms in the sink.

"So you couldn't be satisfied just splashing me with refining chemicals Aturiel, you had to throw paint all over my aunt too?" Emael said passive-aggressively, opening the fridge to grab Luxxy's steak.

"I told you that I didn't do it! You just weren't paying attention when the human next to me accidentally spilled!" Aturiel said hotly.

"Alright you two, lay it off. These stains have built up over the course of the day!" Melicia chided.

"I'm going home now Emael, if you need me just call." Talas said, and headed for the door. With a frown to Emael and a quick goodbye to Melicia, Aturiel followed him.

Once they were gone Melicia turned off the faucet and turned to face Emael with an angry expression. "What's your problem today Emael? You know I spill paint all over myself all the time when I work, why would you attack Aturiel like that?"

Emael refused to make eye contact with his aunt, he busied himself prying open the plastic container with Luxxy's steak in it. "He dumped refining chemicals all over me and never apologized for it!"

"Oh come on, do you really think he did it on purpose?" Melicia asked in disbelief

Emael didn't respond to her, he opened the back door and whistled for Luxxy. A few of her sibling Luxrays that were hanging around in the yard stood and walked over with wistful faces, but they knew that the steak wasn't for them. Luxxy emerged from the bushes carrying a dead Ratatta in her mouth, obviously she had gotten tired of waiting and gone hunting herself. She tossed the Ratatta to her siblings and leapt up the steps to grab the steak. Her yellow and black fur glimmered and sparkled even in the dimming sunlight.

"I think you're in a foul mood because you hate the prospect of spending time around humans, and you've just spent 8 hours being bossed around and told what to do by them!" Melicia said with a smooth insight.

Emael dropped the steak at Luxxy's feet and she eagerly grabbed it in her jaws and made a dash for open ground where she could eat it without her siblings interrupting. He then closed the door and walked towards the sink to watch the blood from the steak off of his hands. Melicia put herself in between him and the sink though, angry that he was ignoring her.

"You need to get out of my way." Emael said coldly.

"I'm right and we both know it. You need to get over your problems with humans and quickly before you do something to ruin this deal with the Montalbo company! You absolutely need their help if you want to build a home of your own and you need to get your own prejudices under control to keep the deal sweet! Besides, you don't have a reason to hate humans, you've never been mistreated by them at any point in your life!" Melicia lectured.

Emael's eyes drew thin with anger and he stepped around Melicia deliberately to avoid her. He needed to wash the blood off of his hands quick so that he could use them to scratch the back of his head again. That spot was starting to burn a little now. Melicia didn't bother getting between in his face this time, she just sighed heavily and walked back towards the hallway to go to her room and paint some more. She stopped to speak one more time before leaving the room.

"Get it together Emael, we all have to live with humans whether we like it or not. There are just too many of them to avoid!"

Emael grunted with vague annoyance as she walked off and began scratching his head again the moment he finished washing his hands. He continued scratching as he walked over to the door and left the house for Opulous' place; the damned itch seemed to keep getting worse. It was burning like a nasty rash now, but he didn't feel any bumps on his skin yet. One of the other Luxrays in Luxxy's family followed him and nuzzled up affectionately; he gave it a few pets with his free hand until he got to the door of Opulous' house.

The inside of Opulous' home always made Emael felt as if had been teleported into the inside of a gigantic computer. Opulous loved to decorate with a digital motif almost to the point of fetishism, and the inside of the house was living proof of it. He had built it with polished steel walls, digital access panels for every door, holographic art, and not a single house plant or sculpture. Emael passed Amara on his way to the stairs and waved at her briefly. She smiled at him and waved back as she walked down the hallways back to her room to study some more.

The stairs seemed to get blurry in Emael's vision as he walked down them. He gripped the stainless steel railing and slowed down a bit. He felt dizzy now and a little sick to his stomach. Maybe he should have taken a shower after that chemical spilled on him? He reached the bottom of the stairs with a woozy look on his face and found Opulous working on a holo computer, already working on the basic blueprints for him.

"Hey Op." Emael said, his voice a little low and grainy.

"Oh, Emael! Amara said you were on your way so I began designing your house for you already, I hope you don't mind. If there's anything you don't like I can change it for you." Opulous said, only glancing lightly at Emael before turning back to the computer and gesturing to him eagerly to walk over and see.

"Op, do you have any painkillers I can borrow? I feel…"

Opulous took the time to look at Emael more closely this time. Emael felt his conscious begin to rapidly fade so he opened his mouth to ask Opulous for help, but no sounds came from his mouth. The last thing he saw before going out cold was Opulous' robotic eye scanning him. It made him wonder if it could see into his soul.

A/N: Emael is alot like his father: brash, careless and prejudiced against humans. I thought it important to establish this strongly for his first chapter. But there's more to him than this and I plan on unveiling it as we go. Get ready for the next chunk guys, it's gonna be a doozy!


	16. Part II: The Book of K'telle : Chunk 2

**The Four Mirrors**  
A Sequel to Legacies

By MMM/AJ

**A/N**: Alright guys, two major announcements here for this chunk:

**MAJOR EDIT TO THE STORY**: Not too long ago I realized that I made a huge chronological error in the story but placing that Interlude with Jeremy in BEFORE the end of Book 1. This should really be happening in the timeline right now. So what I've done is cut it out of the last chunk of Book 1 and pasted it in here. I've turned it into its own chapter here in the beginning of this chunk. So you guys can feel free to skip over it since you've read it before. Sorry for the dumbass moment guys.

I'm introducing some new characters in this chunk by writing from their POV's. But I'm not going to make them regular characters in the sense that they'll be a part of the POV rotation for every single chunk, but they're not going to be minor characters either. They won't appear on any regular structure, and not very often. This chunk will feature them and only them.

**Chapter IV – J1**

A scruffy looking 20-ish year old human man wandered through the darkened streets of Viridian City. He was wearing a dark purple windbreaker and blue jeans, and had several piercings in his ears and nose. A single gold necklace chain hung around his neck, mostly hidden under his windbreaker. He had his hands clamped firmly in his pockets and was wearing a worried frown on his face.

"Where the hell is Rose?" he mumbled angrily. "I'm never going to make it to the meeting in time now. 'Oh sure Jeremy, I'll be on time! Just make sure to leave me that Nu hit so I can get lost on the way!' Sometimes I really hate that asshole."

Jeremy had been waiting in front of the old holoball court for half an hour. The rave had ended awhile ago and everyone had already left, so he was standing alone in the cold night air. Eventually he got so impatient that he decided to abandon the streets and walk back home by himself. The city was deathly quiet around him, and he quickly lost track of his location not realizing that he was heading deeper into the industrial district. He walked along the sidewalk trying to discern the street signs but failing in the dark.

There was no moon out that night, but the lights from the distant commercial district brightened the sky with a sickly warm glow. There were no stars visible, and a lack of wind all throughout the past few days had resulted in a smoky haze settling over the whole city. Most of the street lights in the industrial district were broken or malfunctioning from neglect, rendering the street where Jeremy walked a dark, murky corridor filled with unseen hazards. A patch of winter ice or some loose cables across the street could have caused him to fall at any time, but in the end it was a rather large obstacle that found its way into his path. He walked straight into a large steel door, which had swung partially open into the street. His head made a dull thudding clang on the metal, and he swore profusely.

"It's too goddamn dark out here." Jeremy said, pulling out his flashlight.

The beam of illumination his flashlight produced revealed that the door he had collided with was extremely aged and covered with rust. The doorway it had covered held a long, featureless concrete corridor that quickly descended into the dark depths of the building.

"Whoever left their freakin' door open is about to get a piece of my mind!" He said, and charged angrily inside.

The place he found seemed abandoned, and it would have struck the average person as weird how the corridor descended continuously without any doors or branching pathways, but Jeremy was too frustrated from the huge lump on his head to notice. He was determined to have a shouting match with whoever had been stupid enough to leave the door open all night. When he reached the bottom, he found two wooden side doors and a large steel door which had been smashed off its hinges. He looked behind the wooden doors and found an empty, dark, dust covered office, and the other hid a large abandoned barracks room, complete with bunk beds and a kitchen. It too was abandoned, dark, and covered with dust. By the time he decided to investigate the room behind the smashed steel door, his anger had dissipated, and was replaced with curiosity and a bit of lust for explanation. This place felt spooky, like a lost Temple from some sort of adventure movie.

What lay behind the wrecked steel door was even more amazing. It looked like some sort of explosion had happened here. There was plastic and metal scrap all over the floor, which had been blackened by heat. Weirdest of all, there was a small region where it looked relatively untouched by whatever event had occurred. There were three computer towers isolated in this safe zone, one of which seemed to have been cut in half. Jeremy walked over to these computers and examined them.

Jeremy opened the case on one of them, and saw that it was extremely old. The hard drive was extremely large when compared with modern ones, and the processor was only divided into 5 cores. It even had a cooling system that used an air fan! The thought struck him that this computer was an antique, and could be very valuable. He replaced the case and tried to pick it up, but it was firmly anchored to the floor with steel bolts. Jeremy didn't have anything to pry or unscrew the bolts with, so he sighed and decided to leave it behind. He could come back later with a bunch of his friends after all, he could bring as many people from the cult as he needed. But, just in case, he decided to open it back up and take some of the components with him. He pocketed the hard drives, the processor, graphics card, and tried to get the fan, but it was screwed it to chassis so he left it. When he was satisfied, he put the case back and turned to leave.

When he emerged back onto the streets, Jeremy strained to push the door closed so nobody else would notice the strange building and steal the rest of the computer parts inside. He felt like a prospector staking a claim as he felt the door squeal and shut under his weight. The latch clicked and he jiggled the handle once to make sure it was locked and continued walking down the street.

A pair of headlights appeared from around the corner at the far end of the street and Jeremy waved to them. The hover car zoomed over to him and landed with a soft thud. The door open and a very obviously stoned girl gestured for Jeremy to get in.

"I knew it!" Jeremy said angrily as he climbed into the passenger seat. "You're fried deeper than a Thanksgiving turkey!"

"I'm shorry I was late." Rose slurred.

"You're not safe to drive. Scoot back!" Jeremy demanded.

"It's alright Jer, I've got evey things under control." Rose protested.

"Scoot! Or I'll make you scoot!" Jeremy threatened.

"Jeesh, don't pull an Ares on me dude. I'll move if you wanna wanna wanna drive, just don't have me tortured." Rose said, slumping backwards and landing in the backseat limply.

Jeremy took the control sticks and eased them up into the air and over the tops of the industrial buildings. Rose's cheapo Flareon-X model hover car shuddered and dipped as he tried to keep it steady.

"How wash the rave? Did you smash it open?" Rose asked.

"You know I don't touch Nu-stacy anymore Rose, I've been going it cold and straight for over 10 years now, ever since I went to DJ Tanis' rave."

"Alright, glad to hear you had a shmasher time." Rose said, and lied down to sleep a bit.

Jeremy shook his head in exasperation and continued driving on in silence. Rose didn't talk anymore, she was so fried that she dozed off completely a few moments later. Jeremy didn't mind, she was always annoying when she was high anyway. Besides, his mind was still occupied trying to figure out what could be on that hard drive he had stolen. He drove with one hand and stuck the other into his pocket to feel it. The case was smooth plastic and he fidgeted and turned it over in his hand idly. He didn't know why, but to him it felt like he had made the discovery of his life.

**Chapter V – L1**

Nanotechnology was an amazing thing; even though Lucas was in his early forties he still looked as if he were in his twenties. He was a human with short, almost buzzed hair around a centimeter long, wore a pair of thin glasses and a yellow sweater with the logo of a local sports team. He owed his youth to his friend Jeremy, who just happened to be the son of one of the leading pioneers into medical nanotech. There were lots of advantages to having a friend like Jeremy, especially the money. Humans were still as vain as ever, so inventing a way to stop outward signs of aging had proven to be an insanely lucrative branch of research for Jeremy's family. They had earned enough money to move out of their old mid-sized house in the suburbs of New Saffron into their own private mansion up north. Jeremy himself had asked to stay behind and keep the house to himself however, and they had agreed. It was this house on the outskirts of New Saffron that Lucas was approaching now and he already saw some of his other friends arriving as well.

Three of his other friends were there: Ayla, Alan and Shara. He had originally met Ayla, as well as Jeremy and Rose in a class at the Pokemon University over 18 years ago. He had taken a class on the history of Ares' regime as taught by Ashley Ketchum and they were classmates of his. He never really noticed them much until one day he overheard them asking Ashley after class if there were any extracurricular activities on campus about Tanis or the rest of his species. He had shyly approached them afterwards and spent a little time talking with them about the Liberators Tanis and Shakara, and once they discovered he had a point of view similar to their own they let him in on their own little secret. They ran their own little private club that they called 'The Cult of Mewtwo'. It wasn't a religious organization as the name implied, but they all shared one extremist thought in common that most humans didn't: They thought the world would have been better off if Tanis and Shakara had been in complete control of the world and not just acted as guardians.

Lucas had been a member of the cult ever since. It proved to be a friendly and accepting environment, even as membership fluctuated. The cult had 2 distinct strata that Lucas had discovered when he joined it, there was a group of ranking regulars who were always there attending and a small group of come-and-go members who tended to be sporadic and didn't invest too much time or effort into the group. Over time the come-and-go members eventually phased out, and Lucas quickly became one of the leading regulars. By now there were no come-and-go members left, and the only people left were these regulars including Jeremy, Rose, Ayla, Alan, Shara and himself. They were a tightly knit group even now into their middle ages and still held meetings on a weekly basis, so in a way their levels of dedication could be said to live up to at least part of the definition of cultism.

Lucas waved to the three of them as they stepped out of their hover cars. He pulled out the key to Jeremy's house and pushed it into the lock as Ayla and the others came up behind them. Jeremy had trusted them all enough to give all the cult regulars keys to his house as well as offering them a room there if trouble ever arose in their lives.

"Hey Lucas! I've brought popcorn for tonight's meeting!" Ayla said cheerfully as she came up beside Lucas.

Ayla stood 5'6" and had hazel eyes and brown shoulder-length hair that she had dyed purple. She wore a plain green T-shirt, cargo pants, and a smile that could warm even the iciest heart. She had a whole box full of bags of un-popped popcorn.

"Sounds good, did you bring the drinks Alan?" Lucas called as the lock popped open.

"Yeah, I brought root beer for us!" Alan said, he and Shara catching up to them with grocery bags in hand.

Alan was the tallest of the group standing at 6'3" and had sandy brown hair a few inches long and greenish hazel eyes. He almost always wore the same shirt with a picture of Tanis the Liberator on it and liked to go two or three days between shaving, which led to stubble. Shara was his younger sister and stood a foot shorter than him and had brownish blonde hair trailing halfway down her back. She loved to wear tie-dye shirts and tonight was no exception.

The inside of Jeremy's house was always messy to some degree, thankfully he kept it under control most of the time though. This week he had apparently gone downhill a bit, as the floors had various degrees of clutter strewed across them. There was no sign of Jeremy himself yet, so Lucas and the others assumed he was downstairs in the basement getting ready for the meeting. Ayla broke away and headed into his kitchen to begin popping the popcorn for the group while the rest of them clomped down the stairs to the meeting room in the basement. The meeting room itself was the only finished part of the basement with a rug and furniture, everywhere else the floor was solid concrete and exposed wiring and plumbing. There weren't any walls separating the meeting room from the rest of the basement so it felt empty, dank and airy down there whenever they held a meeting. Lucas looked around and saw no sign of Jeremy down here yet either, the rest of the basement was crowded with various kinds of computer equipment, boxes of keepsakes leftover by Jeremy's parents, and other assorted junk arranged in disorganized piles.

"I wonder where Jeremy is. Do you think he's out on an errand?" Shara asked no-one in particular.

"He's the founder of the group, he knows when we're due to arrive and he wouldn't just forget. It'd have to be something pretty major to keep him away." Alan remarked.

The group didn't give up on Jeremy though; they found their seats in the meeting room and began to chitchat idly while waiting. The sound of the popcorn cheerfully bursting was only slightly muffled by the floor above them as they chattered and signature buttery smell came soon after. Alan refused to let anyone open the bottles of soda until Ayla came down the stairs with bowls full of the popcorn, wanting to save it so they didn't run out.

"Any sign of Jeremy or Rose up there?" Lucas asked as Ayla peeked over the teetering bowls of popcorn.

"Haven't seen them, he's nowhere in the house. Come and take these before I drop them!" Ayla urged.

Lucas stood and helped Ayla pass around the popcorn. She smiled wryly and said "Well, seeing as how our great leaders aren't here, why don't we just dig in?"

Alan hesitated to open the soda a bit but caved in when he saw everyone taking handfuls of the popcorn and eating eagerly. He passed around cups and took a big gulp out of the two liter bottle to finish it off after everyone had a glass.

"This isn't like them to be late. Okay, it would be like Rose to be late from time to time, but not Jeremy." Lucas said, sitting back down.

"Yeah, kind of worrisome. Thanks for the popcorn Ayla; I hadn't had dinner yet tonight." Alan said in between eager mouthfuls.

"Didn't Jeremy say he was going to a rave last night? Do you think he was pulling an all-nighter?" Shara inquired.

"Even so, if he was cancelling the meeting, I think he'd contact us somehow to tell us. Besides, most of us have had many low- or no-sleep nights and been okay." Lucas retorted quickly.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the front door of the house unlocking and opening, which was easy to hear since the stairs to the basement were right to the right of the front door. All of the cult members turned their heads to look in unison, almost like a school of fish. Slowly but surely they saw Jeremy's form clomping down the stairs. They immediately saw that he was helping to support rose by keeping an arm around her shoulder and taking some of her weight. Once he emerges from the stairs everyone could see that he had big ugly purple rings under his eyes that spoke of a severe lack of sleep. Rose appeared half comatose and shuffled drunkenly along with him.

"Hey guys...sorry for being late..." Jeremy grumbled as he dragged Rose into the room.

"It's okay...geez, did you get any sleep at all?" Lucas asked, getting up and offering to help get Rose into her sleep.

"Technically the rave ended at 4AM, but this stoner here was supposed to pick me up afterwards. She forgot about me for about an hour and I tried walking home." Jeremy said groggily.

"Would you t-t-t-talk quieter please?" Rose moaned, a terrible crunched squint flowing over her face.

Jeremy and Lucas managed to get Rose into her seat safely and everyone managed to catch a glimpse of the big purple rings that Rose was sporting under her eyes as well. It almost looked the two of them were trying to make some sort of fashion statement with purple makeup.

"I've not seen anyone get eye bags that large from just a rave. You didn't get jumped on the way home, didja?" Ayla asked sympathetically while handing Rose a bottle of stomach medication.

"Well nothing bad happened to me, but I did have a bit of an adventure. Let me tell you guys about it." Jeremy said as he climbed into his seat behind the podium in front of the group. "I was trying to walk home since SHE wasn't showing up…"

Jeremy pointed at Rose as he began, but she ignored him. "I ended up wandering into the industrial sector because of how freaking dark it was. The assholes who run that sector of the city don't maintain their street lights properly so it was as dark as the empty space inside of a Psi-slayer member's skull. Because of it I ran face-first into a goddamned steel door that a different moron had left open!"

Lucas and Ayla visibly winced. "That had to hurt!"

"Damn right it did, I still have the lump on my forehead!" Jeremy said and pointed to the bruise that had risen there.

"Poor door. Wander inside to apologize to it?" Ayla said with a little suppressed snigger.

"I had some words to say about the owner of the building, that's for sure! But it turned out to be an abandoned subterranean complex of some sort. It was filled with dust and cobwebs and was creepy as hell." Jeremy said, taking Ayla's joke in stride.

"Well, there had to be something in there if you're telling us about it." Lucas said.

"Yeah, it looked like some sort of creepy hideout! Weirdest of all, it looked like someone had raided it already and blown the shit out of it with some kind of bomb! There was a steel door that looked like it had been bashed off its hinges by a Machamp, and the room behind it had burn marks and debris like an explosion had happened there a long time ago." Jeremy recalled eagerly.

"Freaky!" Shara commented, an intrigued expression on her face.

Jeremy nodded as he continued, "On top of that, there was a little section of the room that hadn't been damaged, almost as if it had been shielded from the explosion. There were computers in there, and really freaking old ones too!"

"I like this place already... Did the computers have any power? They make for fun toys if you can salvage them properly." Ayla remarked insightfully.

Jeremy took off his book bag and laid it on the podium. He rustled through its contents as he spoke, "The place was pretty wrecked and I'm pretty sure there was no power, but I did open up one of the computers and ransack it for parts. Take a look at these!"

Jeremy produced three hard drives, a processor chip and a graphics card, all of which were dusty and very ancient looking. The cult members stood up and gathered around him to look.

"Find anything decent?" Lucas asked from the back of the group, trying to see over Alan's shoulders.

"Most of the components were integrated into the mobo, so I could only get these." Jeremy said, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Hopefully one of those hard drives can tell us something about what was going on in there." Lucas said excitedly.

A look of shock crossed Alan's face. "Holy shit, these are ancient! Look, IDE sockets! Those were used over 100 years ago!"

"Well...there goes our plan to read the data off of them." Jeremy said disappointedly.

"Not entirely. There's a museum near here that has computers from that age." Ayla interjected quickly as Alan was about to open his mouth.

"I was just about to suggest that!" Alan said, sounding a little huffy. "You know I used to work there and I know everyone. I can get them to let us use one of their socket converters to transfer the data off of these drives and onto modern digital pads. It won't take very long."

"Brilliant! We still have an hour before the place closes, shall we go?" Jeremy asked eagerly.

There was general agreement and a touch of electric excitement amongst the group. Sometimes their meetings were short like this, and many times when news was sparse they never even got onto the subject of the Mewtwo species. But they had been close friends for so long that they didn't mind spending whole meetings doing unrelated things together. It had been a long time since Tanis and Shakara's deaths had been announced publicly after all, and the world hadn't seen or heard much of their species since.

**Chapter VI – AY I**

Ayla was an impulsive and oftentimes goofy person. She couldn't help but stare at Jeremy's Mohawk, it was difficult for her not to reach out and poke it as she followed him back up the driveway towards his house. They had just got back to his house after their little trip to the museum and Jeremy had a spring of excitement in his step. Alan had a big grin on his face as he carried the digital pad with all of the transferred data on it. It had taken a minute for someone he had known to finally get over to them, but after that everything had gone smoothly. All of their spirits were high as they re-entered Jeremy's house, excited to see what secrets the hard drives had held.

They tossed their coats off quickly and stampeded down the stairs like a herd of wild Tauros, and Alan accidentally knocked over a half-full glass of root beer leftover from the meeting as they crossed the meeting room. Jeremy turned on the huge medical holo computer that he stored in an unfinished are of the basement and eagerly ordered it to wirelessly sync with the pad. They immediately see that all of the data on the disks had been saved with .tri and .DNA filename extensions.

"Wasn't the .DNA file format originally created for storing genetic codes on computers?" Shara asked as they watched the files all transfer over.

"Yeah, it still is in fact. Its one of those enduring formats that proved very versatile. Good thing I have Genetech software from my dad's company to open it with." Jeremy replied thoughtfully.

Once the files finished transferring, Jeremy picked one of the .DNA files out of the "Genetic Database" folder and opened it. The colorful Genetech Inc. logo blinked across the holo screen as the program booted up and interpreted the file.

"Goddamn, turn down the brightness on that thing will you!" Rose growled, shielding her still sensitive eyes.

"Just bring sunglasses with you the next time you decide to do drugs, I think it's pretty. Does anyone here actually know how to read a .DNA sequence?" Ayla asked.

"Don't worry, this is the latest version of the software and they just introduced a new feature that renders a rough estimate image of what kind of creature the DNA codes for. It may take a few minutes though, since the data file is a little old and might have some holes in it." Jeremy said confidently.

"I hope it works, hard drives don't age too gracefully and 100 isn't exactly young." Alan said with a cautious tone.

For several more moments the logo spun on the screen as the program processed the genetic codes. A couple of times the logo slowed to a crawl as the task used up almost all of the computer's processing capabilities, and once it even froze completely for a few seconds. They all had a sneaking suspicion that if the data wasn't corrupt that it was going to show them something illicit and scandalous, but none of them expected what the screen was about to show them. They expected maybe an illegally modified human genome of some sort, so when the screen finally displayed a picture of Mewtwo they were all dumbstruck with a shock so intense that it defied verbal description. The 3D rendering of Mewtwo had some obvious flaws: there were a few holes in his body and his right arm was entirely scrambled from data corruption, but he was still easy for the cultists to recognize. Alan, who had been wiping spilled root beer off of his shoes, dropped the rag towel he was using. Ayla's heart-rate skyrocketed. Lucas gripped a chair so hard his knuckles turned white. Jeremy and Shara stood deathly still as if paralyzed. Rose's expression of agony and pain from coming down from her high even lit up with shock. They remained silent for a few moments before one of them finally managed to summon up the energy to say something.

"It...It can't be...but it is. M-my God..." Lucas stammered.

Alan added to Lucas' sentiment with a long drawn out "Holy Shit…"

"Jeremy, where did you say you got this?" Ayla asked, not taking her eyes off of the screen as she slowly stood.

"An abandoned hideout…Good lord, the place must have belonged to Team Rocket!

Alan tried to form some more words to reply but only stuttered incoherently.

"This HAS to be fate. There's no other way you would have wandered in to that specific room, with only THAT piece of computer equipment in salvageable condition. You were meant to find this." Lucas said with a tone of amazement.

"This…this is a miracle! What should we do with it?" Shara burst with the question that everyone had begun thinking but couldn't ask.

"We need to keep it secret. The Rockets may be out of commission but there are still plenty of wrong hands it could fall into out there!" Ayla said urgently.

Jeremy's shocked expression nearly instantly changed to a kind of glee as a thought struck him. "Wait a minute...wait...you guys know my dad has been working on designing nanite reprogramming right? He just recently perfected a system by which a genetic sequence is given to a set of nanites, and the nanites are programmed to modify their host to match that DNA. What if I got a batch of these nanites, put this code into them, and injected them into one of us?"

"Hold on a second! Having this data is one thing, but doing THAT with it? I love Mewtwo as much as anyone else in here, but...I doubt the real Mewtwos would take too kindly to this!" Lucas protested.

"That's true, how would we know how Tanis' family would react to that?" Shara added grimly.

"We'd know by showing up on their doorstep and introducing ourselves, or sending them a letter of explanation. They cloned their own kids, so it wouldn't be too weird that we came to be through unnatural means as well. Besides, copying is the sincerest form of flattery." Ayla noted.

"I know that they cloned their own offspring, but that was out of necessity. Honestly...I'm not sure that any of us, even as devoted as they are, would be seen as "worthy" in their eyes. The last thing I want to have happen is for us to potentially do this, and then end up with all of us getting slaughtered by the four brothers!"

"If we are 'unworthy' or untrained, we'll suffer the agony of our own psionic backlash. Besides, if we do go through with this, our arms will get all scrambled and stumpy." Ayla said, gesturing to the flaws in the data on the screen.

"She is right, this data is far too degraded to use in such a precise operation. We'd need a flawless code to pull it off." Jeremy said dejectedly.

"Two things: First, I'm torn. This could turn out very good, or very bad. We could do so much more to help Mewtwos as a whole if we were of their species, and had their abilities, knowing what we know now. But... this could also end very badly. Remember the New Saffron epidemic? Wasn't it rumored that one of them was responsible? Now imagine him finding out about us doing this and making a virus that targets only us! Second...I think this code can be fixed. It's why the GeneTech software exists, right?" Lucas said analytically.

"The code here on his arm is completely scrambled, I'd have to rewrite it from scratch and that could take months, maybe even years if I did it myself! And these holes in the image here are holes in the code itself. It's not just scrambled; entire pieces of his genome got corrupted and vanished out of the file. I couldn't rewrite them without expansive years of studying of their species! I'm just not knowledgeable enough to fill in these gaps!" Jeremy growled.

"Well we can't just walk up to them and ask for a sample of their genetic code. Has it been recorded in the Library of Pokemon Genetics yet?" Ayla asked, looking for any possible solution.

"I've seen an entry on him in there, but it only had some superficial scan data that Professor Oak had recorded when he first discovered Mewtwo. Not a full genetic scan, unfortunately." Alan replied woefully.

"But is there anyone we know that might be able to help? More importantly, is there anyone _trustworthy_? It means nothing if we end up letting this fall into the wrong hands." Lucas reminded them.

"If we knew of any other abandoned Team Rocket Hideouts we might find more drives like this, but none of us do." Shara added.

Rose, who hadn't really been participating in the argument, suddenly grinned slightly as if she had gotten an idea. Nobody really noticed except Lucas, who personally preferred not to interact with Rose whenever she was coming down from a high. Rose quickly squelched her expression, as if to hide her idea from the rest of them. The group quickly ran out of collective ideas and gave up on ever finding a use for the code.

"Well, even if we can't use the data for anything, it's still an amazing find for us. One that we need to keep secret between ourselves." Jeremy said wisely.

"Where will we keep it hidden? We can't leave this laying around." Ayla said with a tinge of worry.

"We can keep it here in my house, it's not like my family is around digging around anymore. I have a lockbox in the basement I can put it in. Any objections to that?" Jeremy proposed.

"Only one -- at least one other copy of this data needs to be kept somewhere. I've seen too many hard drive failures in the past. We can't chance losing this." Lucas said.

"Agreed. I can keep a copy under triple encryption in my computer at home." Alan offered.

"Don't put it on your actual computer, what if Tanis' family has active scans for that sort of thing? It should be kept on a disk and on-person at all times. Easier to defend that way." Ayla objected.

"That's what the triple encryption is for. Even if one of them decided to scan this very computer, the encryption would take so long to break it wouldn't be worth their time." Lucas clarified.

"Tanis was a very dedicated scientist and there's no doubt he'd teach everything he knew to his sons, so encryptions would mean nothing to them. Besides, considering the histories and hobbies of Alan and his friends, a more thorough scan might be prompted. It just isn't safe to leave something like this lying around on a computer. Jeremy has already proven that hard drives are no good at keeping secrets!" Ayla continued.

"Touché. They may have ways around human technology that we haven't even conceived. I vote yes to the new plan so long as there is more than one copy being kept." Lucas said, gracefully caving in to Ayla's point.

"Everyone else in favor?" Jeremy asked, raising his arm to call for a vote.

"Aye!" came the call from the entire group.

"Alright, we've got a solid pass there, I'll keep the drive locked up and Alan will keep a copy on his pad." Jeremy said, de-syncing the pad from his computer.

"It's getting late guys, and I'm going hiking tomorrow morning early. Do you think we can call it a night?" Rose asked with a yawn.

"I guess, it's almost 10 now and I don't have anything else to bring up. Anyone got anything else?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah; if we do eve get that code patched up, how would we test it? And may I have my popcorn bowls back now?" Ayla asked wryly.

The cult members had completely forgotten the popcorn after their heated argument. They quickly gathered up Ayla's bowls and passed them over to her.

"Well I think we'd have to come to an agreement over proper use of it before doing anything, but it will be a long time before I can even fix the scrambled arm, let alone figure out the holes. I'll get to work on it sure, but it'll be a few months. Until then, I say meeting adjourned."

A/N: Alright guys, 10,000 free internets if you can figure out the connection between this chapter and Legacies! And if you can't guess, these 6 humans are going to play their own decent roles in the story. Next chunk we'll go back to the POV's of the 'Twos. Hope you enjoy!


	17. Part II: The Book of K'telle : Chunk 3

**The Four Mirrors**  
A Sequel to Legacies

By MMM/AJ

**A/N**: Alright guys, I'm getting awfully tired of using a single letter to identify a chapter. Now I'm sure you guys probably hate inconsistency as much as I do (and I really hate it A LOT), but I think it's time we made another change here. The single letter ID system worked well back in Legacies when the POV's were limited to 4 and all had different letters to differentiate them. Not so much anymore. From now on I'll use the full character name for each chapter.

**Chapter VII – Amara 1**

Amara Bluetail wasn't exactly the narcissistic type, but if there was one thing she enjoyed doing it was spending time in front of a mirror. She liked to spend an hour or more every morning adjusting her appearance in front of it; tweaking her fur and choosing jewelry for the day. Her siblings like to tease her for the fact that she was the first of the species to feel the need to wear jewelry but the barbs slid off of her as easily as oil on water. The only thing that really bothered her was the fact that all the jewelry that she bought was designed for humans and often didn't fit her. Thankfully she learned a lot about refining and molding metals at her job at the Montalbo plant. She used small bits of the metal she earned at the job and psychically made her own jewelry. She had already made her own set of earrings out of intertwined strands of gold and silver.

There was a history class with Cygnus scheduled that day, and Amara was spending her morning primping in front of the mirror instead of studying as usual. She was examining herself after finishing her morning shower, deciding what jewelry to wear. She had blue fur that was several shades lighter than her father's, and it brightened to white going down to the tips of her hands, feet, ears and tail. There were little spots of blue on the ridges above her eyes.

"Amara come on, don't you remember the worksheet that Cygnus assigned us on Monday? You didn't finish it last night because you were over at Venius' place spending time with Emael!" Eloniel called from the other room.

"Oh ease up; you know I have an easy A in that class already. I can afford to miss a few points here and there." Amara yelled irritably. "Besides, Emael was sick last night! It was only polite to go and visit him!"

"I thought you hated him?" Eloniel asked, appearing at the door to the bathroom.

Eloniel had light blue-green fur with darker speckles scattered randomly across her body. Her entire body had a glimmering, shiny quality kind of like light reflecting off of snow crystals, almost like Luxxy. She gave Amara one of her famous piercing smiles that brought her green eyes out as sharp as one of Shakara's tail blades.

"I don't _hate_ him! He may be sour, small-minded and bigoted, but everyone deserves a little sympathy when they're ill. Besides, we're all stuck in this life together so we need to try to get along." Amara protested.

"You're such a hippie, you know that?" Eloniel asked with a grin.

"Yeah and you're a dork!" Amara replied with a teasing tone. She psychically closed the clasp of a necklace around her neck. "Now would you mind finishing that problem set for me?"

"Come on, you know as well as I do that it would take less than a second for Cygnus to psychically determine that you cheated and had me do it. Besides, I thought you didn't mind losing a few points?" Eloniel asked in a sly tone.

"Oh fine. I'll do it now." Amara said irritably, putting down her bracelets and following Eloniel back to the living room, grabbing her backpack on the way

Amara grabbed her digital pad and its screen flickered on when its touch sensors detected her hands. She quickly ran her eyes over the problems and realized that it'd take at least another 20 minutes of studying to answer them properly and gave up on the lot of them. She stuffed it back into the backpack and telepathically grabbed a bottle of fruit juice in the fridge. The bottle hovered over to her waiting hand and she stuffed it into the side pocket. Eloniel prodded her about the assignment one more time before the two of them left the house together and walked across the lawn to Cygnus' place. Eloniel had to raise a psychic barrier over their heads to block the torrential downpour of rain that had begun falling less than five minutes ago.

"Stupid rain! Now we can't have an outdoor lecture!" Eloniel groaned as their feet made soft squishing noises in the now completely soaked ground.

"Damned Purity Canyon weather. Give it a few minutes." Amara added.

Amara and Eloniel found the other members of Cygnus' history class standing on the porch of his house waiting for something. Amara assumed they were waiting for the rain to stop.

"Hey, have you girls seen my dad anywhere?" Talas asked them urgently as they climbed onto the porch out of the rain.

"You mean Cygnus isn't here at all?" Eloniel asked.

"No, he and Venius left this morning on some errands and they're still not back yet!" Talas said.

"Did he say what kind of errands he was going on?" Amara asked.

"No, he just said it would only take a few minutes. He's been gone for over an hour!" Talas said worriedly.

A thought suddenly struck Amara in the face like some kind of holy brick falling from the heavens and she swung her backpack off of her shoulders and dug out her digital pad. She dialed up the reading assignment and began studying at a furious pace. Eloniel gave an exasperated sigh and buried her face in the palm of her hand.

"You're terrible, you know that right" Eloniel asked.

"My dad could potentially be missing or worse and you're doing last minute homework?!" Talas said, now visibly angry.

Talas was normally the lighthearted type. He never took life too seriously and loved to pull the occasional psychic practical joke. Seeing him so agitated made Amara feel a nasty twinge of worry as well, but she was already getting absorbed in her studies and her mind was being drawn away from reality by the text on her digital pad's screen.

"I'm sure he'll be alright" Amara said dismissively.

Talas's face scrunched up with indignation but Eloniel intervened before he had a chance to say something he might have regretted.

"Come on Talas, we'll got tell my dad about this. He'll know what to do."

Eloniel lead Talas off of the porch and the two of them walked back across the yard together. Amara was deep in her studies by the time they made it back to the house, but if she had looked up at that moment she would have noticed it when Talas reached out and took Eloniel's hand in his.

Amara whispered the words of the text out loud as she read. "The construction of the Black River was the most daunting task Ares ever faced. The eight space stations he had constructed needed to be in an absolutely perfect circular alignment upon initial activation or else-"

"Hey Amara." Emael's voice interrupted.

Amara grunted in reply and kept reading. "-or else a complete dimensional destabilization would have occurred. With Earth directly in the path of such a dimensional collapse the chances of our survival would have been-"

"I wanted to thank you for coming in and keeping me company last night." Emael interrupted again.

"Yeah yeah yeah, don't mention it." Amara said dismissively.

Emael apparently wasn't aware that Amara had meant it literally and kept on talking. "Sure Aturiel and the others visited for a few minutes, but you stuck around for hours while your dad's machine filtered that chemical out of my blood. I just wanted you to know how much I appreciated it."

"Sure, fine! You can repay me by letting me study!" Amara snapped.

Emael looked intensely hurt for a moment and then masked it with a veil of anger.

"Hmph! You were probably just doing it to earn extra credit in all the classes my dad teaches! Who needs you, dork." He said and stormed over to the opposite side of the porch, stepping on a few other people's feet on the way.

Amara didn't really feel insulted by Emael's words because she was still so deeply absorbed in her studies. In fact she was barely aware that she had even insulted him in the first place. If there was one major personality trait that Amara shared with her dad it was how deeply absorbed she could get in her studies. Outside of study time she was emotional enough to make Opulous seem like a Vulcan, but once the textbook was opened she became just as absent-minded and mechanically efficient as he was. Once her mind got into it, it got into it all the way.

Amara continued reading. "-the chances of our survival would have been essentially nil. A dimensional singularity of that magnitude could have absorbed our entire solar system, so naturally Ares performed his alignment calculations with the utmost care. Once everything was quintuple-checked and the stations were in place, the reactors were started up and-"

This time Amara's reading wasn't interrupted by someone's voice, but by a short flash of orange light. She paused to look up and saw that Cygnus had reappeared out of a teleport on the lawn just in front of the steps of the porch. The rain drenched him where he stood and he quickly walked up the stairs with a dispirited, unhappy expression on his face and addressed the class.

"Class is canceled today everyone. Go back home."

"Wha-why?" Asked Aturiel worriedly, walking over to his father.

Cygnus's dejected look intensified at the prospect of having to explain what had happened. His soaked fur clung to him and his tail dragged along the ground behind him, giving him an overall saggy and depressed look.

"Today I wanted to take our lesson in a different direction. I figured you were probably all getting really tired of learning about Ares so I figured we'd take a break today and take a look at my grandfather, Mewtwo. I also figured that like me, you were all probably getting tired of studying in the usual stuffy way, so I wanted to try something new out. I win Mewtwo's Amethyst and psychically read and transmit some of his memories to all of you. I went on a couple of errands to pick up some groceries first and then went to fetch the Amethyst, but found that it was gone. Somebody stole it."

There was a frightened series of murmurs amongst the students when Cygnus finished. In an instant Amara's mind was ripped right out of her digital pad and into reality as she pondered who could have done something so heinous. She quietly tucked her digital pad into her backpack, hoping that Cygnus wouldn't notice the fact that she had been doing last minute homework.

"Who do you think did it? Do you have any leads?" Emael asked, re-emerging from his corner of the porch

"Whoever did it covered their tracks really well. When I tried to psychically sense the aura of whoever did it my mind was overwhelmed with the disgusting aura of a Dark Pokemon instead. I couldn't sense anything about the thief because of it. The thief must have brought something like a Houndoom or a Mightyena with them to help disguise themselves from detection. The dark energy was strong enough for me to tell that the theft must have occurred today though, maybe in the early AM." Cygnus replied.

"What are we going to do about it?" Amara chimed in.

"I'm going to go and get Opulous and Venius to help me go out and search some more. Maybe Op's robotic eye will have better luck than I did! In the mean time, you guys should head home and do some more studying! I can sense that more than one of you didn't finish today's assignment!" Cygnus said, giving Amara a very subtle glance.

Amara's cheeks darkened a little with embarrassment as she left the porch with the rest of the students. The rain smacked loudly against the psychic umbrellas that the students raised over their heads and Amara felt a twinge of worry as she walked back home alone. Mewtwo's Amethyst was a priceless, irreplaceable artifact and if it really was gone then they had just lost a major portion of their specie's history.

A loud cracking boom caused Amara's heart to jump and a blinding flash of white light filled her vision for a few fractions of a second. She rubbed her eyes and saw that the storm had struck a nearby tree with a massive bolt of lightning; the tree had a massive burned scar that traveled its entire length. A few moments later the entirety of Venius' Luxray pack, as well as the Manectric that lived with them, came bounding out from behind wherever they had been hiding. They absolutely loved thunderstorms because of the lightning. Luxxy, who was head of the pack, leapt forward and jumped into the air with an expression of joy on her face. With another deafening boom and brilliant flash of light a second bolt of lightning streaked down from the heavens and struck Luxxy in mid-jump. Amara flinched a little bit and clenched her eyes shut after being blinded again.

When Amara's vision recovered she saw that Luxxy had landed on her paws and was just fine. A few sparks danced around her fur from the electricity and she had a big self-confident smile on her face. It was interesting living with a huge pack of electric type Pokemon. Noisy, but interesting.

**Chapter VIII – Opulous 6**

Opulous had trained himself to be an expert with his robotic eye over the years, he could use it to scan and identify fingerprints, analyze unknown chemical or biological agents, and even to look up at the stars like a telescope. But in all his years of experience with it, he had never once seen it malfunction like this. He was trying to scan Mewtwo's memorial with it in an attempt to find any clues about who had stolen Mewtwo's Amethyst. His vision jumped and fizzled with static whenever he looked too close at it, and he could distinctly see clouds of blackness whenever he switched on his sensors. He got the same result whenever he looked too close at the rest of the environment around the scene of the crime.

"It looks like the suspect's dark Pokemon used some kind of technique to blanket the entire area with dark energy, my eye can't penetrate it. I think it was probably the Dark Pulse technique, based on the consistency and strength of the field." Opulous said emotionlessly, blinking his robotic eye quickly to deactivate its sensors.

"Damn. Can you see the edge of the radius of the technique's area of effect?" Venius asked. "Maybe we can find a trail of dark residue that we can follow?"

"No, the area it affected is huge and I'm afraid of spending too much time in contact with it. It's having adverse effects on my eye and I want to minimize that as much as possible." Opulous replied.

Cygnus had looked depressed before, but this news caused his posture and facial expression to droop to new lows of wretchedness. The sparkle of energy and joy that normally shone in his eyes seemed to darken and fade away and his depressed frown made him seem old and wrinkled. He hunched over and stared at the ground miserably.

Venius on the other hand looked absolutely livid with rage. He had brought a small digital pad along with him to type notes into, and now he was gripping it tightly with rage. After a few seconds it gave up the ghost with a loud cracking noise followed by a few sparks; Venius had broken its screen open with his bare hand. He cursed loudly as a piece of plastic lodged itself in the flesh of his palm.

"I can't believe that this…this human is going to get away with this so easily!" Venius growled, using the word 'human' like some sort of vulgar term. He followed up that sentence with a long string of curses towards all dark Pokémon in general.

"Don't worry Venius, I'll bring in some sensitive chemical sensors later this afternoon after the energy has cleared up a little. I might be able to pick up some shed skin cells from the perpetrator. Nolus is telepathically calling me now though, so let's head back." Opulous offered.

"Alright, sounds good. Thanks Op." Cygnus said, sounding a little less depressed.

The three of them teleported back home at once, each appearing in front of their own house except for Opulous, who appeared inside Nolus' house since Nolus had called him.

You could paint a picture of Nolus' personality just by examining the inside of his study. The entire eastern-facing wall was a series of massive floor-to-ceiling windows that gave him a panoramic view of Purity Canyon outside. The study was on the third floor of the house so one could just see over the tops of the trees, and a more than adequate amount of natural sunlight poured into the room. Nolus had paid Melicia to paint the other three walls with similar green tree and blue sky patterns. There were at least a dozen different varieties of potted plants in the room; Opulous himself had rigged them up onto an automated watering and fertilizing system and it worked so well that Nolus had to prune them all at considerable intervals. In terms of furniture, Nolus had a modern desk with an in-built holo-computer terminal, an ergonomic inflatable chair that he himself had designed, and two large contemporary chrome wire-frame bookshelves. It was an interesting contrast to see something metallic in the sea of green but Nolus said that he hated looking at wooden furniture because it made him feel sorry for the trees that would have had to have been chopped down to make them. The shelves were laden with various textbooks that covered everything from general biology to ecology, meteorology, biochemistry and genetics. Ever since their father's death Nolus had avidly taught himself everything he could learn about the Earth, life, and how both worked. In doing so he quickly became competitive with Opulous in these fields, but Opulous still held a comfortable lead in most other subjects.

Nolus was reclining in his inflatable chair and talking with his daughter Kaira Ryelle when Opulous arrived. Both he and Kaira had ecstatic and excited looks on their faces and were gesturing at each other eagerly when Opulous re-materialized at the entrance of the room.

"Hey Op, fantastic news! Look at this vid-mail I got from Cardan Taman!" Nolus said excitedly and brought a file up on his holo-computer's screen.

A pale transparent 3D image of the portly governor appeared above Nolus' desk and smiled at them. He began talking with an excited and animated tone that made his normally-hard-to-notice double chin begin to wobble a little bit.

"Nolus I've got great news for you and your brothers! Your application for caretaker of the Dumplands is essentially approved! I've gone through all the red tape and the only thing that's left is to pick a name for the new future Pokemon preserve. After all we're not going to give it a name like 'Dumplands wild Pokemon Preserve." As soon as you get a name picked out call me and we'll finalize everything. And I have one more piece of good news for you. I was worried for a bit about possible legal problems with you moving all four of your families onto the land yesterday. Someone like Genning might have made a fuss about unnecessary occupants. I checked the books and asked some of my people though, and everything says you'll be alright. Technically you're all still classified as Pokemon, and it's going to be a Pokemon preserve after all. So give me a shout when you've got that name and we'll seal the deal.

Cardan gave them a curt nod and the video flickered out. Nolus grinned broadly and said "Tonight after Emael and the others get home from work it'll be time to call an inter-house meeting."

* * *

This was only the third time that Opulous and his siblings had ever hosted an inter-house meeting, so naturally they had not quite refined it down to an art just yet. The first time they had done it their children were only babies and were still living in their cloning tubes. Chairs hadn't been an issue then, since it had only been the seven of them discussing the different ways of raising children. The second meeting had been much more chaotic; the children had just entered their early teens and were in the middle of the most rowdy part of their youths. Not only had the amount of chairs suddenly became woefully inadequate, but they also discovered that it was rather difficult to fit 20 adolescent and 7 adult sized Mewtwos into house, let alone one room.

Tonight however, Opulous had practically everything figured out. The day's rains had ended several hours ago so they were going to hold the meeting outside on the lawn where space wouldn't be a limiting factor. They had rented just enough chairs from some humans for the occasion, and since it was dark out they would use orbs of psychic energy to illuminate the yard. Opulous was confident that the kids were mature enough at 18 years now to handle the meeting, so there was only one more factor that he had forgotten to take into consideration: the mushy dampness of the ground after the rain. The moment that people began to sit down, the legs of their folding steel chairs immediately began sinking into the mud.

"Alright everyone, we've got a lot to talk about tonight so let's get started." Cygnus announced. "Before we do though, Opulous has an idea that he'd like to run by us."

Opulous stood and cleared his throat as a formality and to make sure everyone had his attention. "I know some of you just got home from work and are tired and hungry, so I came up with an idea to expedite the whole meeting considerably. We will all telepathically link our minds simultaneously in order to facilitate the rapid exchange of information and ideas. I will organize the mental links myself while Cygnus distributes the information and tallies votes for the issues we need to decide on. Does anyone have any objections?"

Amazingly the entire crowd remained silent, no-one found the idea distasteful at all.

"Alright excellent. If everyone would just concentrate on linking with me telepathically we can all get started." Opulous said, feeling pleased with himself.

Opulous opened his mind up to them and was immediately overwhelmed. They all came at him at once, their words and emotions filling up his brain and running over like a garden hose at full power overflowing a pitcher. At least half of the 20 teenagers had completely opened their minds to him when he had only predicted that they would connect just strong enough for speech. Their thoughts and emotions cascaded through him like whitewater rapids and he nearly lost himself to them. Opulous quickly narrowed the links in order to block out emotional transmission, but he was almost saddened to have to. In the few seconds he had been connected so fully to them that it was like living 11 lives at once and to break away was painful, it felt like giving up a huge part of him. He knew it was time to get down to business however, so he finished narrowing and organizing the links so that Cygnus could begin.

Cygnus broke the news about the Dumplands and a wave of excitement flowed through the crowd. Even though Opulous had narrowed the connections considerably he could still feel their joy and enthusiasm through the link. Telepathy is a very interpersonal experience no matter how narrow the links are kept. As soon as Cygnus asked them to brainstorm possible new names for their future home, the ideas spewed forth at an incredible rate. Names were proposed and rejected in droves in the span of a few seconds. Agova? Sounds like a fruit. Agrion? Too goofy. Escand? Sounds like a French word. Noruna? Nice but not everyone likes it. Corosia? Sounds too much like 'corona'. K'telle? … Nobody objected to that one.

Cygnus took a tally of votes on the name and to all of their amazement, the name "K'telle" won unanimously. It had an air of strength and beauty to it that they could all admire, and the one who had come up with it was none other than Nolus' girliest daughter, Kaira Ryelle. Kaira had pinkish-lavender fur with a similar fading pattern to Amara Bluetail. She had a solid lavender tail and wore a single golden locket around her neck with a picture of Aturiel Kesta in it.

The next item on the agenda was Opulous' field, he needed to teach everyone how to clean the poisons out of K'telle in order to make it habitable. He had used telepathic teaching methods before during one on one lessons, so teaching everyone at once proved a difficult He had brought a sample of the various chemicals in from some of the most contaminated areas of K'telle and he used his own chemical analyses to teach everyone how to recognize all the different contaminants and psychically isolate them. They were eager to learn so that they could get to work clearing out their new home, but their minds got sidetracked when they began exchanging ideas with each other about what their new home might be like. By the time Opulous was satisfied they had all learned the process thoroughly enough to end the meeting, he too was distracted as well. But his mind wasn't dwelling on how wonderful K'telle could become, it was dwelling on the emotional power of those open links he had experienced before. He wanted to experience it again in the future and maybe set up some kind of system to keep links like that up constantly. He wasn't sure how such a system would work, but he knew he was going to try and design it.

A/N: Alright guys, this chunk had some juicy character development and a pretty sizeable hunk of plot. We got to know several more of the next generation 'Twos and saw the 'Twos give their new future home a name. Next chunk we'll go back to our friends in the Cult of Mewtwo and find out what happened to Mewtwo's Amethyst, so stay tuned!


	18. Part II: The Book of K'telle : Chunk 4

**The Four Mirrors**

A Sequel to Legacies

By MMM/AJ

**A/N**: Hey guys, have I got a huge chunk here for you! Not only is it 35 pages long, but it's so thickly laden with plot exposition that it could easily be 3 chunks on its own. But recently I've been doing some mental projections on the length of Book 2 and so far it looks like it's going to get REALLY FRIKKIN HUGE. So several future chunks, as well as this one, will be double, triple, and maybe even quadruple size. So like I always say, grab your preferred beverage and get ready for a looooooooong haul!

**Chapter IV – Rose 1**

The gem that Rose carried in her pocket was too light to really feel, but because her mind was dwelling on it so heavily it felt like a lead weight. It had been years since she had first found it; she had been on a hike in the more remote regions of Johto when she stumbled upon the memorials in the forest. Back before she had become a nu-head Rose loved to spend her days hiking around Johto's wildest locales, and when she found the memorials it felt like she had blundered across the Holy Grail itself. Even though this was the kind of thing that the Cult of Mewtwo was made for, Rose decided not to tell her fellow members about it. She got the distinct impression that it wouldn't be appropriate to have a whole troupe of fanatics rummaging around such a solemn place, especially after she wandered a little farther and found the remains of Tanis' house. Even through the thick haze of her years as a nu-head, Rose still stood by that decision and kept the existence of the memorials a secret from the cult.

The pry-bar that Rose had used to liberate Mewtwo's Amethyst from his memorial was still sitting in the rear seat of her hover car; it stung at the back of her conscience like a bee lodged in the soft tissue of her brain. She felt sick with worry about how the cult members would react to her theft, but if her hunch about the Amethyst was correct then it would more than make up for it. A few months ago she had decided to bring her Gardevoir, 'Helianthus' down to the memorials in order to do a psychic examination of the gems they held. Helianthus had been immediately overwhelmed by what she described later as "A torrent of memories, emotions, dreams and essences that filled my mind with unrelenting intensity." She later described the gems as being little spiritual lockets that held the very essences of Mewtwo and Tanis respectively inside of them. So naturally Rose immediately thought about the gems the moment the cult had discovered that the DNA on the hard drives was incomplete. Maybe these essences could fill in the gaps?

Rose parked her hover car in front of Jeremy's house gently and scanned the driveway for the cars of any of the other cult members. The only other car she could see belonged to Jeremy, which meant that she had beaten the rest of the group here. She found it surprising since she had called them all up via videophone this morning to request an emergency meeting. She hopped out of the car and Jeremy's Mightyena bounded out beside her with a cheerful expression. She instinctively scurried up to the door and urgently scrambled with her keys, wanting to get inside and settled down before any of the other members pulled up and saw her. It was a function of how nervous she felt about how they might react to her theft.

Rose found Jeremy in the basement meeting room as usual; hurriedly putting out the chairs for everyone at the last minute. He looked up at Rose with an exasperated expression when he heard her footsteps thudding down the stairs.

"Hey Jer." Rose said shyly, gauging his reaction carefully.

"Morning Rose. Thanks for taking Aera on that hike with you. Did she behave herself?" Jeremy asked as the Mightyena ran over to him and nuzzled him affectionately.

"She was a real trooper, though she seemed a little overexcited." Rose replied, setting her backpack on the floor next to her usual seat.

"Yeah, I don't normally have the time to take her out on walks because of how much time I have to spend at work."

Rose cringed at Jeremy's veiled barb and cut straight to the point. "Yeah, listen I'm sorry I called you away from your job at the lab for this but it's important. I found something that might help us fill in the holes in Mewtwo's DNA."

Rose handed the Amethyst to Jeremy and he studied it for a few seconds and frowned with disbelief. "Crystalline data storage? I thought this technology was still only in experimental stages. How do you know what's on it?"

"I had Helianthus psychically look over it a long time ago. Would you just pop it into the scanner on your computer please?" Rose insisted.

Jeremy shrugged and the two of them walked over to the medical computer on the opposite side of the basement. The hard concrete of the unfinished floor clacked loudly under Rose's sandals and her nose itched a bit when she accidentally walked through a thin little spider web hanging from the ceiling. Jeremy tapped the activation switch on his computer it thrummed to life and made a pleasant welcome jingle. Jeremy put the Amethyst into the little dome scanner and brought up the analysis software. It beeped cheerfully and a little beam of light caressed all of the gem's facets lovingly like the gentle fingers of a collector. A progress bar crept across the holo-screen to indicate the progress of the scan. An error message popped onto the screen two-thirds of the way into the scan; "Fatal error: Unrecognized data format"

"Well we know there is data on here since the computer detected the different format, but we're certainly not going to be able to read it with my machine." Jeremy said morosely.

At that moment the sound of the front door opening echoed down the stairwell, following by multiple thuds of a large group of other cult members coming down the stairs. All of them had arrived at once, Ayla in front followed by Lucas and then Alan and Shara.

"What's with the impromptu meeting? I had an appointment when you called." Ayla said, dropping her bag by her chair as she walked across the basement towards them.

"Well, I found something relating to that data we discussed last night; something that might fill in the gaps." Rose said, quickly summarizing everything.

Rose elbowed Jeremy lightly and he grabbed the Amethyst and handed it to her so she could show it to the rest of the cult members.

"I never really told you guys about this before...and I know you'll probably be pissed, but I know where Mewtwo's grave is located. And I got this from the site."

"Well, yeah, but I understand why you didn't. We'd all go apeshit..." Lucas replied, not really looking angry at first.

"You stole that from his memorial. You stole from _the_ Mewtwo. How could you?" Ayla asked with a tinge of condescension.

"Well, because...I thought that maybe it had some secrets stored inside it, maybe it could help us fill in the rest of his DNA code. And I planned on taking it back!" Rose said, feeling the sting of her words.

"We've tolerated a lot from you, Rose. Jeremy has been late countless times because of having to take care of you after a Nu high, but this is too much. If that doesn't go back where it came from, I'd never forgive you! This is an outright _sin_ against the Mewtwo species!" Lucas said, his anger suddenly becoming painfully obvious.

"It's not like I broke anything, it wiggled free easily and we can put it back with no harm done!" Rose said defensively.

"Then give it to me, I will take it back now." Ayla said simply, holding out her hand to Rose.

"Wait, Jeremy said he thinks there might be data on there after all!" Rose protested.

"But I told you that the computer can't interpret it, it's got some kind of psychic encoding on it!" Jeremy said angrily.

"I know, that's why I wanted to ask Ayla if we could borrow one of her psychic Pokemon to help decode it!" Rose countered.

"Wait, don't you have a Gardevoir you can use?" Alan asked as his memory suddenly snapped into action.

"Yeah, but she's been on vacation at a Pokémon sanctuary for the last week." Rose replied.

"Well... I do admit this would be a great chance. It has to have more than just a DNA code. If I do let my Pokémon decode this, do you swear that it will be returned as soon as we have the information?" Ayla asked, her anger beginning to fade.

"I swear on my membership in the cult!" Rose said without a hint of hesitation.

"Alright, I'll do it. Porygon and Alakazam will work?" Ayla asked, her anger replaced with excitement.

"Porygon would be perfect!" Jeremy said eagerly.

Rose handed the Amethyst to Ayla, who grabbed an ultra-ball off of her belt and tossed it to the floor. Porygon made a series of bizarre beeping sounds as it emerged out onto the cold concrete floor and the cult members gathered around eagerly. Rose felt a little chill run down her spine when she looked into Porygon's eyes, they seemed lifeless and disturbing.

"Porygon, use your Conversion technique to change into psychic type!" Ayla ordered.

Porygon glowed for a few seconds and the pink spots on its body changed to purple. Ayla then set the gem every so gently onto the floor in front of it.

"I need you to psychically decode whatever kind of information is on this gem and then format it and send it over to Jeremy's computer for us."Ayla finished.

Porygon's formerly lifeless eyes seemed to light up with happiness at the prospect of doing something with a computer. It made a piano-like chime sound to confirm Ayla's command and concentrated its gaze on the Amethyst. Everyone crowded in closer to stare as Porygon sat there motionless, its eyes glowing ever-so-slightly as it read and interpreted the data. After several more minutes it made a cheerful pinging sound, waddled over to Jeremy's computer, touched its leg to the computer tower and instantly vanished. A few moments later it appeared in the bottom-left corner of the holoscreen and began working. A little cartoony speech bubble window appeared over its head with a status bar inside and the text "Hold on, give me a sec…"

This time the status bar crawled all the way across the screen to completion without an error message, and did it much faster than before as well. Once completed, the bar disappeared and Porygon's speech bubble changed to "Sorry I couldn't decrypt most of the data, at least 10 terabytes of it was in a format that has no equivalent in all of modern computing. But I was able to decode a single .DNA formatted genetic database file."

"Good work Porygon, save that onto Jeremy's hard drive and return!" Ayla said with a smile.

Porygon vanished off of the screen and reappeared back in front of the actual computer, and Ayla pointed the ultra-ball at it and recalled it in a flash of red light. Jeremy excitedly reached up and tapped the .DNA file on the screen and everyone spontaneously held their breath as the Genetech logo appeared on the screen. The processing bar jumped across the screen quickly and Alan clenched his eyes shut as it crossed the last few pixels toward the 100 mark.

It was like a dream come true for Rose, her hunch had been absolutely correct. Another 3D rendering of Mewtwo appeared on the screen, but this time it was perfect. There were no holes in his body, no scrambled arm, and the resolution of the picture even seemed more crisp and detailed than it had before. The cult members all released various whooping cheers of excitement this time, a direct contrast of how quiet they had been when they first found the code on the Team Rocket Hard drive. Normally the shouting would have hurt Rose's drug addled-ears and made her wince, but she was so busy being joyous along with the rest of them that the pain didn't really bother her that much.

"What if we really did use this with those nanites? Imagine all the positive things we could do with psychic powers!" Alan said with an ecstatic fervor.

"I know, I've been thinking about this a lot since the idea was even brought up. The good outweighs the bad. We'd best do _a lot_ of good for the species like this." Lucas said, his doubt finally dissolving completely.

"I guess, yeah. But what about the cloning issue? We'd all be identical to the original Mewtwo if we just used the data straight up!" Shara said.

This put an immediate damper on everyone's enthusiasm, but Rose felt a grin crawl over her face. She had thoroughly explored the area around the memorials, including the one remaining bunker that hadn't been destroyed. There had been computers in there that she could access, and they too held secrets that she hadn't bothered to tell the cultists about yet either.

"You know how Tanis' home was bombed? Well there was a bunker there that got missed, and in there I found this." Rose said, pulling a little data pad out of her backpack next.

Several of the cultists winced at the mention of Tanis' death and a little bit of rage even sparkled in Lucas's eyes for a moment, but these reactions faded quickly.

"What's on that one?" Lucas asked curiously.

"Here, sync my pad up to your computer Jeremy and I'll show you guys." Rose said, handing it over to Jeremy.

Jeremy tapped the sync buttons on the pad and his computer simultaneously and a new window popped up on the holo-screen showing the pad's contents. Rose pointed over at a folder labeled "GDA" and Jeremy opened it. Inside were several program files along with an executable, which Jeremy double-tapped to activate. A screen appeared with "Genetic Diversity Algorithm" along the top, a series of input fields on the right, and a 3D rendered image of what appeared to be an unfamiliar Mewtwo on the left. The model slowly rotated as if showing its physical characteristics.

"Holy shit...Jeremy, you said the only two things we needed were a way to diversify, and a full set of DNA. ...and it appears we have both." Lucas said, his voice hushed with awe.

"Wow, do you think we can use it?" Ayla asked, staring in amazement at all the input fields on the program's interface.

"I think so, but the only sequence in it right now is for one of brothers's sons. I think that if we did use it, we should use the original data from the gem." Jeremy replied. "Here, let me navigate to the proper file."

Jeremy found the button for selecting new input and used the 'browse' option to find and select Mewtwo's genetic code. The picture of the unknown son vanished and was replaced by a picture of Mewtwo. A new window popped up with two different options: "Diversify using input fields or pure randomization?" Jeremy idly clicked the purely random option and after a few minutes of processing the picture of Mewtwo was replaced by a new, wholly unique one with teal-colored skin/fur and deep hazel eyes. The cultists gaped and sighed with amazement.

"If we really do this, how are we going to handle the reactions of the four brothers?" Alan asked furtively, breaking his gaze away from the screen.

"Well...if they don't know about us, they need to know our intentions. We should be open with them. The last thing we want to do is to be seen as deceitful in any way. And while we're on the subject, I don't think every single member needs to be transformed. Jeremy obviously only had the few of us that are here, here, because we've been with this for so long." Lucas added.

"Yeah, not too many people have been coming to the meetings anymore; it's been a long time since we've had more than just us here at the meetings. Nobody else really needs to even know about it at all." Jeremy said astutely.

"But what about our families?" Shara asked with a frown.

"Mindwipes." Ayla said with an almost goofy monotone. "Implant false memories. They don't have to know we ever existed as humans."

"Easy to say for you guys, I get most of money from my parents." Jeremy retorted with a sour expression on his face. "It's not that I won't miss the greedy dickhead that my dad has turned into, but I don't know if I can leave mom behind like that…"

"Maybe it could be different from person to person. I agree with Ayla; I don't want my parents to remember me. They objected so heavily in the past to me being so involved with the Mewtwo species, among other things." Lucas said quietly.

"I don't think our family would be pissed off necessarily, but it would come as a huge shock..." Shara said quietly.

There was a thoughtful silence for several moments while the cultists pondered the ramifications of separating themselves from their families in such a permanent manner. Rose herself really didn't have any family to sever herself from, she had been an adoptee as a little child and had passed through several different foster homes before deciding to go live on her own and attend Pokémon University. She knew that Alan and Shara had close bonds of love with their parents, but from the sound of it maybe those parents wouldn't put up a fight over such a transformation.

Rose decided to break the silence with a little joke; "So, who gets to go first?"

"Well...since Jeremy started this whole cult, I think he should. If not, I'd be willing to be the guinea pig." Lucas volunteered.

"Well, there's one thing that you guys need to know before any of us just leap into this. This isn't a fast process, the nanites act on a molecular basis. It could take between one to two weeks to complete so I don't think we should all go at once. A few people need to volunteer to stay behind and guard us while we change." Jeremy said.

"Jeremy, you're the leader. You should decide the order of who goes and who watches. While that's going on, maybe Ayla can use some of the psychic Pokemon to do the necessary mindwipes." Lucas said thoughtfully.

"And another thing: When the nanites hit the nervous system they can cause intense physical pain, so we'd need to be unconscious during the transformation." Jeremy added, almost like an afterthought.

"Sedatives might interfere with the nanites' progress. Think we could get some kind of psychic Pokémon to keep us dreaming the whole time?" Ayla suggested.

"It'd have to be a _very_ powerful psychic to block that much pain." Jeremy warned, "I know, I've seen some of my dad's experiments."

"My Alakazam is pretty strong! Besides, whoever goes first will come out as a sufficiently strong Pokémon; they can just use sedatives the first time then help after with everyone else." Ayla noted.

"Who's to know how hard it will be to actually control these psychic powers? What if it takes long training to learn how to use them safely?" Alan countered.

"That's true. Luckily, we have other Psychic Pokémon available to try and help us." Ayla replied.

"Well I never owned a psychic Pokémon before, but my sis has that shiny Espeon." Alan said, wanting to volunteer for help but unable.

"But I've never really trained Espeon for very long, it's not nearly powerful enough." Shara moaned.

Ayla pulled the Ultra ball that contained her Alakazam off of her trainer's belt and waved it under their noses and said "Don't worry, I've got it covered!"

"Well personally I'd rather use a sedative, just in case, but it's up to you guys what you want to use." Jeremy said.

"If I'm not going first, I'll just follow what worked best for those who have gone through it before me." Lucas said nonchalantly.

"I can't use sedatives, not with all the traces of Nu still left in my system, I might not wake up." Rose said quickly.

"Well I hate pain so I want to be sure I don't feel any. Sedatives for me please." Alan added.

"I'll try the psychic method!" Shara said, throwing in her two cents as well.

"Alright. I think that those using the psychic method should go first, so we can see how it works. Agreed?" Jeremy proposed.

"That means it would be just us girls?" Ayla asked.

"Yeah, and I'll volunteer to stay with you three and keep watch. Shara is my sister after all." Alan offered.

"Alright, what does everyone want when we use this diversity program? Input appearance settings or completely random?" Jeremy asked. "There's even a little 'surprise me' option that just outputs a DNA file without giving a preview of it."

"Do the random button when I go in, just make sure gender isn't set to random as well." Ayla immediately chimed in.

"Same. You guys know I was never one to care about looks so much." Lucas said.

Everyone else unanimously agreed that they all wanted randomization and surprise.

"Well we've covered almost everything, but what about our jobs?" Alan interjected suddenly. "If Ayla is going first then who's going to mindwipe our bosses?"

"I'll phone the places where the girls work. I won't have to worry about mine, since I work for my dad. Everyone else who isn't going first can call their bosses on their own time." Jeremy said.

"So do you actually have those nanites with you here today?" Rose asked, suddenly a little nervous about the prospect of going under so soon.

"It's not the nanites themselves that are hard to get, it's the software that my dad works on. I've got enough doses of nanites here for an entire stadium full of people. I just had to sneakily grab a copy of my dad's program on a pad while he wasn't paying attention. All I need to do is chug out a new unique code using the diversity algorithm that Rose brought, plug it into my Dad's program, and then activate and sync the nanites to the program. Look, it's easy; we could do it right now if we wanted to." Jeremy said, performing those actions on the computer as he said them. The nanite dispenser clicked on and ejected a syringe with a single dose of active nanites, ready for action.

Another little spark of excitement jumped through the cultists as Jeremy pulled the syringe out of the dispenser. Normally the nanites that came out of that dispenser were used for cosmetic anti-aging treatments, but now they held the key to a whole new body and a whole new life, and the deadly looking point on that needle suddenly seemed terrifying and dangerous. None of the three girls dared move an inch to take it, even as Jeremy held it out to them.

"Where are we going to sleep?" Shara asked suddenly, not taking her eyes off of the needle. She was well known for hating needles, even though she needed to use them to inject the youth nanites.

"I've got a bunch of cots folded up in the corner that we can use. It's not like you'll be noticing how uncomfortable they are after all." Jeremy said, pointing to a dusty pile of furniture in the corner.

Alan quickly ran over and grabbed the cots before the girls would even confirm that they were willing to start this transformation now. Finally, Ayla was the first one to work up her courage and step forward to grab the syringe out of Jeremy's hand. She sat down on the cot that Alan brought to her and dropped her Alakazam's Ultra ball to the floor to release it. It emerged in a meditative pose with its legs crossed and its eyes closed.

"Yegelos, as soon as I finish this injection and lie down I want you to use your hypnosis technique on me to put me to sleep. Then I want you do the same for Shara and Rose here. Don't wake us up until Jeremy says it's safe." Ayla instructed and Alakazam opened its eyes and nodded knowingly.

Rose cringed when Ayla stuck herself, but Ayla's interminable cheer was just as infectious as ever. Ayla swung back and forth in the cot for a bit gleefully as she injected the full dose of nanites.

"Hanging cots are fun!" She said as she swung back and forth.

Ayla finished the injection and handed the syringe back to Jeremy, who stuck it into the sterilizer port on the nanite dispenser. She then laid down all the way onto the cot and Yegelos strode over to her and began waving one of its spoons back and forth in front of her face. Its eyes glowed a gentle blue and Ayla slowly dozed off. Meanwhile Jeremy used the diversity algorithm to produce another new DNA sequence and plugged it into his father's program. Another syringe full of nanites popped out of the dispenser and this time Jeremy actively offered it to Rose. Rose only hesitated for a second before taking it and sticking it into her own arm. The stinging of the needle piercing her skin was quickly drowned out by the weird cool sensation of the nanites as they flooded into her bloodstream.

"Come on with the hypnosis!" Rose said impatiently as she laid back onto the cot.

Yegelos huffed indignantly at her impatience and walked over to her cot. He began waving his spoon in front of her face and a few moments later she was gone; her mind swam away into the deepest depths of the oceans of unconsciousness.

**Chapter V – Ayla 2**

Ayla didn't dream much during the long hypnotic sleep, most of the time she was contentedly unaware and numb to the world. But her subconscious mind couldn't be held back for the whole time, and eventually a dream began to take shape. It started out like most dreams; dark, fuzzy and incoherent. The very first thing that shone into clarity was Mewtwo's Amethyst, which hovered just out of reach in the darkness in front of Ayla.

"Rose you dope, you forgot to give me the Amethyst so I could take it back." Ayla said and reached out to grab it.

The Amethyst hovered away just so that it was only an inch out of reach. Then a second gem appeared next to it, a glimmering Topaz that Ayla failed to recognize in the moment.

"Odd... either someone else died, or Mewtwo's a split personality." She said, unaware that it was in fact Tanis' gem. She made another grab for the Amethyst, still feeling the urge to protect it.

Both gems floated out of reach again and this time they began to fade away into the darkness.

"No!" Ayla shouted and took a flying leap to try and catch them before they disappeared completely.

But both gems vanished entirely just as Ayla got her arms around them and the reality of the dream shifted. Solid ground appeared where the gems used to be and Ayla slammed face-first into it. She rubbed her cheek where it struck the Earth and rose to her knees to inspect the new world around her. She saw hundreds of shimmering poliplexiglass farming domes behind her; they looked just like the ones outside of the city where she lived. To her left and right were beautiful open fields filled with green grasses and the occasional tree. Directly in front of her she saw a massive yawning chasm that stretched down into a foreboding empty blackness. There was a single, spindly looking bridge that crossed the chasm and vanished into the distance. The solid steel support beams that were holding up the bridge practically looked like toothpicks.

"Uh-huh... so, farming domes behind me and a weird scary bridge ahead... wonderful. Now what?" She wondered.

After a few moments of indecision Ayla got to her feet and decided to try the bridge. She took a few steps onto it to test its stability; the blacktop seemed solid and unwavering. Satisfied that it was safe she began walking across at a decent clip. Even though the bridge was wide enough to accommodate several lanes of land-based cars, she still held her arms out as if balancing on a tightrope.

"Hey, I'm a gymnast!" She said with a giggle.

It seemed to Ayla that she was only walking for a few minutes, but in that time she covered a great amount of distance; the laws of physics didn't necessarily apply to dreams after all. Soon the farm domes and then the entire other side of the canyon vanished behind her so that she couldn't see any traces of land in front or behind her. The constant array of steel support beams vanished into the blackness below her. A part of her was glad that she wasn't afraid of heights. Then the sun began to accelerate and visibly move across the sky. It quickly zoomed over to the horizon and began to set, almost as if the speed of the planet's rotation had increased remarkably and then slowed back down to make the sunset seem more dramatic.

"'We walk the razor's edge between good and evil...'" Ayla said, quoting a random book as she went. "Geez, how long does this darned thing go?"

Ayla squinted ahead of her, trying to catch sight of land, but couldn't see anything. She decided to just sit down and watch the sunset, thinking to herself "At least something interesting happens here."

The sun eventually finished setting, but since there wasn't any visible land for it to vanish behind, it seemed that it only just was absorbed by the endless darkness that the bridge seemed to span. Once the sun was gone the only sources of light were little colored light bulbs that ran along the edges of the bridge like runway lights. They were bright enough to illuminate the entire pathway and Ayla herself; the ones behind her were colored blue and the ones straight ahead were red.

"Ooh, blue lights!" Ayla said and bent over to try to pick one up, but failed since they were integrated with the structure of the bridge.

Suddenly Ayla's ears picked up the sound of soft footsteps approaching behind her. She turned around to look while quietly whispering "Who's there?"

Ayla jumped a little bit when she saw Rose emerge from the darkness. But there was something horrifyingly wrong with Rose; she looked terribly mutated and morphed in several places on her body. Her shoulder-length brown hair had mostly fallen out, her ears seemed to be migrating up her head, her knees had reversed direction and there was a huge lump on her rear end that looked like a gigantic cancerous growth. She had an expression of complete terror; it was difficult to tell if it was caused by her horrifying physical state or the fact that they were suspended over an infinite void of blackness. Ayla immediately noticed that she was holding Mewtwo's Amethyst in her left hand, which seemed to have 2 fewer fingers now.

"Rose! How did you get that? It fell in the- wait, what's that thing coming out of your back?" Ayla asked, peeking around to see Rose's budding tail.

Rose gave Ayla a pleading look but didn't speak. She snuck a few glances over the sides of the bridge and shivered with fear. She clutched the Amethyst tightly as if her own life depended on it and gave Ayla another pleading look, as if begging for help.

"Um... Yeah, nice to see you too. Look, would you stop with the silent act? Nothing's gonna eat us. Only things to keep us company are those lights and that stone."

Rose gave a weak and incoherent stammer but couldn't manage to form any words. It almost seemed as if she had forgotten how to talk.

"Uh-huh... what an interesting story. Hey, there was another stone with the Amethyst, a gold-ish topaz. Did you steal that one too?" Ayla asked.

Rose tried to get a response out but failed, and then she too began to fade away. A look of horror even stronger than before crept across her deformed face and she tried desperately to grab onto Ayla like drowning person grasping at a buoy. It didn't stop her from vanishing and taking the Amethyst with her though.

"Okay, why does everything keep disappearing around me?" Ayla asked, frustratedly feeling the spot on her wrist where Rose had grabbed onto her.

Suddenly a bolt of pain shot through Ayla's insides, almost like an intestinal cramp from the stomach flu. She grasped her stomach and moaned out in pain. "Oh come on, not on a bridge!"

Ayla clenched her eyes shut from the pain and hunched over. When the pain finally faded away she opened her eyes and saw that the world around her had changed again; this time she was in the middle of a city.

"Sweet, it listened." Ayla remarked with a grin.

She took a quick inventory of her surroundings to try and figure out where she was exactly. She could see the symbol of New Saffron displayed on flags and signs prominently around her, but there was also another symbol often paired with it. It looked like a purple colored infinity symbol, only with three loops arranged into a triad instead of just two. She was standing in the middle of an empty street that ran straight from the heart of the city all the way out to the outskirts. She could see that the buildings down by the outskirts were heavily scarred with black burn marks from energy weapons and a few had even been totally collapsed. There were empty weapons turrets on the street corners every few blocks and the only vehicles that Ayla could see on the street were either totaled or burned into charred husks. The place had an eerie feeling of foreboding and tension that made her feel uncomfortable.

Ayla decided to walk down the street toward the outskirts a bit. She was disturbed by the amount of destruction but was also curious and wanted some answers. She kicked a weapon turret as she passed it and even threw a rock into the broken viewport, but the street remained silent as a crypt. Once she reached an intersection she looked down the left to see if there was anything of interest down there. At that point the sound of footsteps finally broke the oppressive silence and she spun around to see who it was.

"Rose? Rose, is that you?" Ayla called loudly, trying to see in the dark.

It wasn't Rose who was running towards Ayla this time though, she couldn't tell who it was at all. He was wearing a heavy compliment of black and purple body armor, carried an imposing looking energy rifle, and seemed much taller and bulkier than a regular human. By the time he got close enough for her to hear his shouts she suddenly realized that he wasn't human after all, but a member of the Mewtwo species.

"Hey, soldier-guy! Slow down!" Ayla shouted, waving her arms to catch his attention.

"Quick! Get under cover! They're going to start bombarding our position any second now!!" The soldier yelled back to her at the top of his voice.

Ayla looked up into the sky to see who 'they' were, but the sky was completely empty. Still, she didn't doubt the presence of the danger so she located a large broken slab of concrete and dove behind it for cover. "Who are they?!"

The soldier didn't hear her question as he dove behind the concrete next to her. "They'll have to de-cloak before firing, so as soon as you see them cover your ears against the sound of the explosions!"

"Don't see why _you_ would have to, deaf man..." Ayla mumbled.

At that moment a brilliant blue bolt of energy whizzed through the air and struck the soldier in the chest; melting his armor a bit and burning his skin. He yelled out in pain and fell to his knees. Ayla stumbled backwards in shock, not noticing how weird it was that she didn't feel any of the heat from the energy discharge. The soldier drifted into light unconsciousness from the shock of the blow.

Ayla didn't panic, a part of her knew that none of this was real and that it was all a dream, but she still crawled over to try to pick up his weapon. It was attached to his armor via some sort of cable though, so she was unable to lift it up all the way. She turned and saw that there was a group of human soldiers coming down the street towards them; one of their rifles was still glowing. Ayla felt the urge to throw a rock at them but common sense told her that escaping was her top priority. She grabbed the soldier by his arms and slowly began dragging him away, trying to find a place for them to hide.

Apparently the dragging motion woke the soldier up a little bit; he moaned softly from the pain and his eyes flitted open. He looked over and saw the humans running towards them and then raised his rifle. He fired three times, unleashing beams of bright purple light that skewered them and sent them tumbling to the ground in smoking piles. He then slumped over and dropped his rifle again, his face contorted with pain.

"Are you alright, Soldier-Guy?" Ayla asked, her voice wavering a little.

"...I think they damaged my converter unit, my weapon didn't give full capacity on those shots… oh goddesses it hurts!"

"Here, hold on, I think I have some burn medication." Ayla said and reached for her backpack. It wasn't there though; all she had were the clothes on her back. "Crud... well, do you have a medkit with you?"

"In...in my shoulder pack…oh goddesses…" The soldier stammered. He began to pass out again.

"No, stay awake!" Ayla urged.

Suddenly Ayla was hit with another bout of terrible internal pain similar to the one that had afflicted her on the bridge. She clutched her stomach with her left hand and reached for the soldier's shoulder-pack with the other, it was right there in front of her eyes, seeming to laugh at her inability to do anything. She grabbed it and pulled it over to her, but at that moment the pain focused itself in that arm and sharpened dramatically. It caused her to drop the pack and pull her arm up against her body protectively, and then she caught sight of the changes. Her hand and arm seemed to be morphing right before her eyes; she stared at them with her mouth hanging open in shock. Several of her fingers were merging together so that there were only three left out of the original five. In her fuzzy mental state she didn't realize that this was the work of those nanites, and she almost wanted to ask the soldier if this was some new weapon that they had developed. But she saw that he was completely unconscious again and kept herself quiet. The morphing slowly stopped and the pain stopped along with it, and she suddenly remembered the medkit and reached down to grab the shoulder-pack up from where she had dropped it.

A bizarre whooshing sound filled the sky overhead but Ayla was too busy digging through the soldier's shoulder-pack to notice or care. She found the med-kit, slammed it open and started tearing through it to find some kind of burn treatment medication. Most of the instruments in there were unfamiliar but she did finally find something that she as a Pokémon trainer could recognize; a Hyper Potion. The bottle had a brilliant yellow warning label that read: "Only for the direst of emergencies!"

"Yeah, I think this counts as 'a dire emergency'" Ayla mumbled as she uncapped the bottle, pulled off the soldier's damaged armor and sprayed the potion over the angry red burns.

Before Ayla could tell if the medicine was making any difference a massive earth shattering explosion rocked the city, throwing her off balance and causing her to fall on top of the injured soldier. The concrete slab they were hiding behind began to fragment and collapse, so Ayla tried to spread herself out over the soldier to protect him. Thankfully the rocks fell away from them instead of towards them, but now they were completely exposed. Ayla looked up and saw a massive fleet of airships hovering in the distance and firing bolts of plasma down into the city.

As soon as Ayla caught sight of those ships in the distance a little twinge of panic crept through her mind. Her façade of calm began to soften and she grabbed the soldier and started dragging him away again. She got across the street with him and tried to open the door to the nearest building, but the handle didn't budge. She set the soldier down, took several steps back and unleashed a powerful jump kick upon the door.

The door buckled under the force of Ayla's kick and she crashed through it and tumbled to the floor inside the building. She had emerged into a scene of confusion and terror; as soon as she sat up there were about 20 different energy rifles all pointed at her at once. She saw a huge crowd of other Mewtwo soldiers in the room, they had all turned and pointed their weapons at her after being startled by her stunt. Most of them had been stationed at the various windows around the room so that they could fire out from cover. And there was a large group of human civilians tightly clustered in the center of the room; men, women and even children. They all stared over at Ayla in terror like a school of spooked fish.

"Hold your fire! She's just a civvie!" One of the soldiers barked loudly.

"She's probably looking for cover, bring her in!" Another ordered.

"We've got a man down out here!" A third shouted when he saw the injured one that Ayla had been dragging.

One of the soldiers rushed towards the doorway and Ayla scrambled to get out of his way. He ran over to the injured one and a huge bubble-shaped energy shield appeared around both of then. Then one of the other soldiers took Ayla by the shoulders and began leading her toward the huddled mass of other humans.

"Hey, wait! What about Soldier-Guy, is he gonna be okay? He got hit by some blue thing" Ayla protested.

"The medic has got him, he'll be fine! Now hurry up and get into the center, you'll be easier to protect there!" The soldier replied.

"Ok… Just who is shooting at you, anyway?" Ayla asked, still trying to figure out what was going on in this city.

A second massive explosion filled Ayla's ears just as the soldier opened his mouth to tell her, and he quickly ran over to the door to look outside. Beams of energy began peppering the front of the building and the soldiers all turned and began returning fire. Ayla did the only thing she could do at that point; she bent down for cover alongside the other humans. Even though she didn't know who was attacking them, she took comfort in the fact that all of those Mewtwo soldiers were fighting so valiantly to protect all these humans. That's when things began to fade away again, accompanied by yet another dose of internal pain. This time the pain focused in both her arms and her legs, which slowly begin morphing again.

"Wait, don't fade yet! I have to help Soldier-guy!" Ayla shouted.

Ayla tried to push her way past the fading soldiers but everything had vanished before she had a chance to make it over there. She fell to her knees in the darkness, frustrated, confused and still a bit scared by what she had seen. The pain continued to pulse through her extremities and she sat there and waited until it subsided.

Her right arm was the first place to stop hurting completely; she now easily recognized it as belonging to a Mewtwo. She flexed it a little and stared at in amazement, using it as a distraction from the pain in the rest of her body.

When the pain stopped, Ayla sat up and looked herself over, the transformation was progressing steadily and she was becoming less and less human with every minute it seemed. She stared at the emptiness around her and wondered if the dream was over. That's when a single pair of piercing orange eyes appeared in the darkness, hovering just over Ayla's head and staring down at her.

"What do you want?" Ayla asked, staring right back at them.

"Who are you?" Asked a voice that seemed to come from those eyes.

"I'm me. Who are you?" Ayla insisted, not yet trusting whoever these eyes belonged to.

"What's your name?" The voice asked again, now sounding a little irritated.

"I won't tell you till I know you're not gonna eat me." Ayla said petulantly.

At that moment a loud piercing bark split the darkness and Ayla saw a large Mightyena leap out of the void. It put itself between her and the eyes and growled ferociously at them, almost as if it were protecting Ayla like a mother would protect her pups. Ayla made a little yelping sound and stumbled back a bit, she always felt distinctly nervous around dark type Pokémon. The hovering eyes flickered out as if cut off by a bad connection and the Mightyena stood there for a few more seconds growling at the spot where they had been.

"Hey Mightyena, are you lost?" Ayla asked, still nervous.

Mightyena turned around and gave Ayla a worried look. It made a series of little yips and nodded its head several times. Ayla noticed a small paper note tied to its collar and realized that it was trying to deliver a message. Ayla hesitantly reached out and took the note, giving Mightyena a quick pat on the head as thanks. She unwrapped the note and slowly read it.

Ayla,

Someone was trying to infiltrate my hypnosis and they were overwhelming me psychically. I had to have Alan fetch Jeremy's Mightyena to stop it with a Dark Pulse. He'll have to stay with you to help keep any further intrusions out.

-Yegelos

Ayla hated the prospect of having to spend so much time with a Mightyena, even one that Jeremy had trained. "Wonderful. Did you happen to see who was trying to get in?"

More words appeared on the note: "I couldn't tell, but they were much more powerful than I."

"Okay. I'll meditate on it and try to figure out who it was when I wake up. Take good care of Rose, and please tell her to stop panicking." Ayla said.

Mightyena nuzzled up against Ayla protectively and Ayla shuddered and forced a smile. "Hello to you too."

More words suddenly appeared on the note, even though Ayla thought that her conversation with Yegelos had ended. "I think the nanites are about to hit the most sensitive areas of your central nervous system, in a few minutes I'll have to put you into a deeper sleep."

"Alright, I'm ready." Ayla said, sitting and scratching the little bits of fur that were starting to grow on her left arm.

Before the deeper sleep descended though, Ayla noticed that Mightyena had suddenly begun acting strangely. It was pawing and scratching at the ground as if trying to dig and whimpering to her as if to indicate there was something buried there.

"Hold on a sec Yegelos, Mightyena found something." She said, and went over there to inspect the ground.

Mightyena went for broke and began digging at full strength; Ayla ducked a dirt clod and bent down to help. Once they reached a depth of about a foot Mightyena sniffed around the bottom of the hole and poked at something with its nose. A dirty little gem of some sort emerged from the soil and Ayla picked it up and wiped it off on her shirt. Her heart jumped with excitement when she saw the brilliant purple of Mewtwo's Amethyst shining out as she removed the grime.

"Ah, so that's where you got off to!" She said with a smile. "I'll have to be careful not to let you get away again!"

The pain resurged again, this time several more magnitudes greater than before. Ayla doubled over and gently pocketed the gem with her shaking hands.

"Yegelos, I think it's sleepy time now" She said through clenched teeth, her eyes swimming from the agony.

A beautiful flowing feeling of numbness coursed over her and her body suddenly felt as if it weighed ten tons. She laid herself down on the ground and Mightyena curled up against her as she dozed off. The last thought to cross her mind before she completely tumbled off into the darkness was that she was glad she had managed to save the Amethyst after all.

**Chapter VI – Jeremy 2**

Jeremy had hosted his fellow cultists in his house several times before but never under circumstances like these. One time he had let Alan crash there in between jobs, and another time they had a 3 day long marathon party, but this transformation made all of that seem like a little tea party for five-year-olds. The worst part was how long it felt like the transformation was taking. Time crawls along agonizingly slowly just over the course of a single day when you're excited about something, so two weeks proved unbearably slow. Thankfully it was mitigated by the fact that since they were right there in his basement Jeremy could go down there and check up on them whenever he fancied. He went down there at least three times a day to bring Alan his food, but several times he would spend just hours down there with him and watch. It was amazing how fast the nanites worked their magic, and with every single day the girls were progressively less and less human. Of course they had to be hooked up to IV's so that their bodies wouldn't dehydrate and starve, but Jeremy still had to bring Alan his meals every day while he watched over them, and Ayla's Alakazam needed food as well.

Jeremy still went to work every day too, wanting to earn as much money as he could before being but off from his parents. He spent a lot of time contemplating what it would be like if he didn't sever those ties, but every time he imagined it, his dad would not only become enraged beyond rationality but their family might even lose their fortune due to all the controversy and possible lawsuits over the misuse of the program. Jeremy came to grips with the fact that not only was he going to leave his family behind, but that he was essentially leaving all of human society behind. And if Tanis' sons didn't accept them, then they would just turn back using the program anyway. If they did accept them, they wouldn't need to worry about money anyway.

Then, exactly two weeks later, Alan came rushing up the stairs in excitement out of the basement and told Jeremy that the medical computer was making a beeping noise and that the "Transformation complete" message was flashing on the screen. The very first thing that Jeremy did was grab the phone and call Lucas to tell him that it was time, and then he stampeded down the stairs to see how the girls looked. The three of them were too big for their cots now, their legs, tails and arms dangled down off the sides like the IV tubes that had been keeping them fed. Rose seemed to have changed the most; she now had dark magenta skin and fur that faded into green on her hands and feet, an extra-fluffy tail, sharp long claws, and green eyes. Shara had teal colored skin/fur, a stripe of red on her head like a crest, and stood a little shorter than the rest. Ayla had changed the least it seemed, she had a color scheme identical to the original Mewtwo and had shoulder-length purple hair.

It didn't take long for Lucas to arrive, understandably he drove a little over the speed limit to get there from across town. He rang the doorbell frantically and Jeremy trudged back up the stairs to let him in. When questioned why he hadn't let himself, Lucas replied that he had lost his key to Jeremy's house in his excitement. Jeremy saw his hands trembling with excitement as the two of them walked down the stairs. Alan turned from his sister and looked up at them as they arrived.

"Hey guys, are we ready now?" he asked anxiously.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Lucas said nervously. "How have they been so far?"

"Ayla was twitching in her sleep a few days ago until her Alakazam insisted that we bring Mightyena in here, but otherwise they've been fine." Alan replied. "Vital signs on the monitor of Jeremy's computer never diverted from normality."

"Was the Amethyst taken back as promised?" Lucas asked insistently.

"I brought it back a few days ago with the directions Rose wrote down for me." Jeremy said. "It was an amazing hike, that's for sure."

The three of them walked across the basement together and when they turned the corner again and the girls came back into view, Lucas emitted a little breathless gasp.

"Holy shit, it's like you can't even tell they were ever human."

"Who should we wake up first?" Alan asked, gesturing towards the girls.

"Rose please." Jeremy said with a slightly worried expression.

Alakazam nodded and walked over to Rose. It concentrated its gaze on her for a few moments, held its spoon in front of her face, and then dropped it onto the floor. Rose twitched as if she had been poked by a sharp object and turned over onto her side.

"Ohhhhhhhh my head..." Rose moaned slowly as she drifted into consciousness.

"Rose wake up! It worked!" Jeremy said eagerly.

"I need a hit baaaaaaaaad..." Rose moaned, reaching up and covering her eyes with her hands.

"Come on you junkie! The nanites worked!" Jeremy said with a heavy sigh of irritation.

Rose's eyes suddenly widened from amazement when she finally registered how her new hands looked. She bolted upright in her cot and accidentally gave Jeremy a brutal head-butt, not used to how much taller she was now. Jeremy fell backwards and landed ass-first on the concrete with a painful thud.

"Agh, you klutz!" Jeremy yelled from the pain.

"Ouch... sorry! This is just...wow..." Rose said, wincing from the headbutt for a moment before thoroughly examining herself.

"Can you walk?" Jeremy asked as he climbed back to his feet.

Rose braced herself against the cot and slowly stood up. She immediately wobbled and fell backwards onto it; she obviously wasn't used to her new legs.

"Come on; let's get the others awake too!" Alan said impatiently, and gestured to Alakazam to go to Ayla next.

Ayla seemed completely unwilling to emerge from her slumber, she rolled over to face away from Alakazam and felt around for covers to pull over her head. She stumbled enough to even fall backwards out of the cot and land on her side.

"Ow! Stinkin' alarm!" Ayla groaned as she sat up.

"Good morning sleepyhead! Take a look at yourself!" Alan said, reaching a hand down to help her up.

"I know I know, bed-head and all that." Ayla grumbled, taking his hand and shakily standing up.

"No, I mean this!" Alan said, raising her arm up into her direct field of vision.

"Oh yeah! The transformation! Coooool…" Ayla said, wiggling her fingers and staring at them intently.

"Isn't it awesome?!" Rose practically shouted and stood up properly this time

"How do you feel?" Jeremy asked Ayla quietly.

"Like I'm forgetting something." Ayla said uncomfortably, staring at Rose and trying to remember something. "Wait, Soldier-Guy! He's hurt!"

Ayla suddenly shoved Jeremy aside and made a break for the door to the basement bathroom. She tripped as she entered the doorway and fell flat on her face. Undeterred she awkwardly jumped to her feet, hair flailing wildly around her head, and looked around wildly as if trying to find someone who wasn't there.

"What's going on? Who's soldier-guy?" Lucas asked with a worried expression.

"_The_ soldier guy! He got shot in the chest and there were humans, then the Medic helped him and there were more soldiers, then they all disappeared and- and... Oh..." Ayla ranted, recalling the dream vividly before remembering that none of it was real. "Uh, never mind?"

"Nightmare?" Jeremy asked understandingly.

"Sort of. Let's just wake Shara, I'll explain later." Ayla said, feeling a little embarrassed over her outburst.

"Yes...please do tell us eventually, at least once everyone's up. Something about that dream is unnerving..." Lucas said with a shiver.

"Yeah, it would be nice to have my sister awake again. It's your Alakazam Ayla; want to do the honors this time?" Alan offered.

"Oh, but he likes you! Thanks for taking care of him by the way. Go on, Yegelos, it's Shara's turn." Ayla ordered gently.

Alakazam dutifully strode over to the final cot and released Shara's hypnosis, this time prodding her with his spoon to make sure she woke up. Shara grumbled and batted away at him with her hands.

"Come on Shara, you've been sleeping for two weeks now!" Alan said with a grin, grabbing her shoulder to shake her awake.

"Go away!" Shara growled and smacked his arm angrily.

"She's always like this." Alan said exasperatedly to the others and continued to shake her.

Alakazam prodded Alan with a spoon as if it had another idea to wake Shara up, but Alan waved him off respectfully while noting "Don't worry, this always works eventually."

Suddenly an idea struck him and Alan bent over and whispered "You got your new body!" in Shara's ear. Her eyes snapped open as if they were spring loaded and she jumped out of the cot with equal force.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Shara repeated endlessly from excitement. She quickly toppled over and fell on her tail, which promptly resulted in a loud shout of pain.

"Does that really hurt?" Ayla asked curiously, and then took her own tail in her hand and squeezed it. "Ow! Yeah, it does."

"Wow, these legs are hard to balance on!" Shara commented when both Alan and Ayla offered to help her stand up.

"Look, it's not that hard if you remember to take the weight of your tail into consideration...I can't believe I'm saying something like that!" Rose said giddily.

"If the original Mewtwo and the others can do it, so can we. We're going to have to, if we're ever going to be of any help..." Lucas pondered.

"Or you could just learn to float, like Mewtwo himself did." Ayla interjected quickly.

"Oh, I'll try it!" Rose said eagerly.

Rose seemed to leap into the air as if a grenade had exploded underneath her and she bashed her head smartly on a metal pipe that ran along the unfinished ceiling of the basement. She tumbled down onto her cot with a storm of cursewords.

"Be careful! It probably takes a lot of training to figure out how to use the powers properly!" Jeremy scolded, going over to help her up and examine her head.

"We'll need to use whatever psychics are available to us for help with that." Lucas said, turning to look at Alakazam.

"She trained me. There are a lot of you. She will train half, and I will train the others." Alakazam said telepathically to all of them, looking to Alan for confirmation. "If that is alright with you, of course."

"Sounds good to me, but I want to go next for transformation!" Alan said with a grin.

"Same here...as far as everyone else knows, I've disappeared off the face of the Earth. Let's do this." Lucas said with a sigh.

"I can get the machine started, who will watch over us while we're asleep?" Jeremy asked, looking for volunteers.

"Depends on how you're gonna stay asleep. If you want to use hypnosis, I'll stay and help Yegelos. If not, then you might want someone who's better with these machines." Ayla offered.

"Well I wanted to wait and see how well the hypnosis worked. Did you feel any of the transformation pain?" Asked Alan curiously.

"Some of it, but not the full brunt. It'll be easier for you after Yegelos has had the practice and if I help him out.

"Well, I snuck some heavy-duty long term anesthesia from work, it's pretty powerful stuff. I'm going to use it." Jeremy said firmly.

"I'll take some too if there's enough" Alan said.

"If everyone else is, I will too, so Yegelos is free to help train..." Lucas volunteered.

"Alright, I'm going to set this up to be completely automated." Jeremy said, and used the diversity algorithm and his dad's program to output a fresh dose of nanites. "The anesthesia is designed to stay in the bloodstream and keep a person under until the nanites actively remove it. Whoever watches us will just need to watch for a confirmation message from the nanites that we're ready to be revived and then click this button here to activate that removal protocol."

"I'll do it! Ayla can go train Rose first." Shara cheerfully volunteered.

"Sounds good to me. Do you want us to stop by every now and then for company?" Ayla asked.

"Yeah, that would be great!"

"We could even alternate. When Rose gets bored of training, Yegelos could teach you and I would watch the boys."

"Perfect, awesome!" Shara said eagerly.

"Alright, who first?" Jeremy asked, grabbing the syringe as it popped out of the dispenser.

"I'll go...this way you can see how I respond to it before doing everyone else the same way." Lucas said, sitting down on the cot that Rose had slept in.

"You might wanna lie down." Jeremy said, attaching a mask to the bottle of anesthesia.

Lucas laid down and began to visibly shake with excitement, and Jeremy put the mask over his face and said "I know this sounds cliché, but just breathe deeply and count to ten."

Lucas took several breaths before dropping into unconsciousness like a falling brick, and Jeremy carefully stuck the needle in. Alan volunteered to go next and before Jeremy realized it, it was his turn to lie down on the cot. He took the can of anesthesia in one hand and the needle in the other. The girls walked over to stand next to him, Rose still wobbling a bit.

"Alright, as soon as I'm out you'll need to stick me with this needle." Jeremy said and held it out to Ayla. "Wish me luck!"

"Goodnight, and good luck! If you see any glowing things in your sleep, just ignore them, okay?" Ayla said supportively.

Jeremy raised the mask to his face, turned the valve and inhaled as much as he could. It smelled and even tasted ultra sweet as it passed through his mouth and nose, and he felt his eyelids droop as it took effect. A few moments later his arm went limp and dropped the canister to the floor, he never even felt the needle go in.

**Chapter VII – Ayla 3**

The computer thrummed diligently as the nanites did their work and Ayla sat in her little soft captain's chair keeping silent watch over the boys. She had used a pair of scissors to cut a crude hole for her tail in the back of the chair after it turned out to be the only cloth one in the basement. Meanwhile, Rose and Shara were keeping watch over the house upstairs and doing a little psychic training with Alakazam.

It had been about a week since the boys had gone under. Ayla was bored after only an hour of her three hour shift for that day, so she passed the time by carefully practicing with her new psychic powers. She had a significant advantage over the rest of the cultists in this area of expertise, before she had mindwiped her bosses she had worked for the local Psychic Gym in New Saffron as a lackey trainer. She was the last trainer that prospective challengers would have to battle against before facing the leader. Though she hadn't actually had a huge complement of powers as a human before, the amount of time she spent with her team of psychics meant that she had some experience with how they used their abilities.

Ayla's Alakazam had a favorite method for keeping its powers sharp; it telekinetically stacked smooth disc-shaped stones on top of each other in order to make a tower. Ayla had asked to borrow these stones so she could practice with them during her shift. They proved much more difficult to stack than she expected; she could lift the stones easily but setting them back down gently enough was proving much more difficult than she thought. It was almost like controlling a robotic arm by proxy, and the arm wasn't exactly subtle in its movements. The most she had managed to stack were five out of the seven before the ascending smaller stones lost their balance and clacked noisily to the floor.

Ayla's concentration was shattered by the odd sound of loudly ripping fabric. She looked around for the source of noise for a few seconds before noticing that Jeremy's new Mewtwo-sized legs were getting too large to fit his human-sized pants! She stumbled over and pulled them off of him and threw a nearby blanket over him for cover.

"Ugh, men... why can't they ever keep their pants on?" She joked.

Ayla took a glance at Jeremy's stats on the computer screen before going back to sit down; everything was reading normal as usual. She suddenly caught sight of a twinge of movement in her peripheral movement and turned around to see that her stacking stones were moving by themselves without aid of her powers. She stared at them for a few seconds before deciding that it was probably a side-effect from Alakazam training Rose and Shara upstairs.

Ayla sat back down in her chair and concentrated on the stones to try and identify who was lifting them, she would have to warn them later about the dangers of psychic side-effects, but strangely enough it wasn't an energy signature she recognized. By now she could easily identify Rose, Shara and Yegelos because of how many times she had practiced with them. Some other psychic, not even inside their house, was messing with those stones. Ayla frowned at the unfamiliar signal, it was getting stronger and stronger all of the sudden and seemed to move and focus on her now instead of the stones. She suddenly felt as if she the owner of the signal were trying to psychically contact her, so she opened up her mind as best as she could.

"Hello?" Ayla asked telepathically.

"Are you there?" A voice asked. It was the same one that Ayla had heard in her dream; the one that belonged to those orange eyes.

"I think so. Are you the one I saw in my dream?" Ayla asked curiously.

"It depends if you're the same dreaming person I saw from before. What's your name?"

"My name is Ayla. If you are the same guy, then I'm sorry for being so rude. Would you mind telling me who you are, and why you were in my dream?"

"My name is Venius. Where are you?"

"Venius? Neat name. Reminds me of a song from an old video game. I'm in my friend's basement." Ayla replied. They knew only a few of the names of the four brothers after all, not all of them had been made public.

"You're a very skilled psychic to talk to me like this, perhaps the most skilled human since Sabrina."

"Thank you. I guess you could say I 'get in touch with my inner Pokémon' when training with my team. But what about you? You're better at this than I am, wouldn't it mean you're the most skilled since Sabrina?"

"You could say that I'm in a different class of psychic than Sabrina."

"Different class, as in... not human? Or just different specialty?"

"Good guess, I'm not human."

"And I'm going to assume you're not just a pair of floating, glowing eyes. You're not painful, so you're no dark type, and you seem stronger than any Alakazam or Gallade I've ever seen. Just who are you, really?"

"Have you heard of the one that the humans call "Liberator Tanis"?"

"Of course. He is a hero and legend who saved our world and others from the empire of Ares. Don't listen to the people who say he's evil, they're just crazy."

"Did you know he had 4 sons?"

"Yes, why?"

"I am one of them, and I'd like to meet you."

"Well, I guess that would explain why you are so fluent with telepathy. Is this why you were in my dream?"

"I detected a powerful psychic seemingly emerging out of nowhere so I had to try and see who. Now I can detect more of them. Maybe if we met face to face it would enlighten me."

"Very well. Do you have the patience to wait a few hours until I can leave?"

"Are you busy?"

"Not so much busy as waiting on someone. If it suits you, I can leave early."

"If you aren't that busy, I can come to you."

A little bit of panic leaked into Ayla's mind. "Oh no, no, that's alright. I don't want to inconvenience you. Besides, it isn't my house, and my friend doesn't like having strangers in his house. Meet up at the Gra- err, forest north of here?"

"When?"

Ayla didn't know how to teleport so she knew she would have to drive there. "How about half an hour?"

"Very good, but to know where this forest is, I have to know what city you live in."

"New Saffron. I'll go out far enough so no one sees us."

"Good. I'll see you then."

"Oh, and Venius? It's a pleasure to meet you." Ayla added before their telepathic link was severed.

"Thank you." Venius replied, sounding a little flattered.

The link finally closed and Ayla felt a little twinge of overpowering curiosity and a little bit of fear from Venius at the last moment. She immediately got a clever idea and ran upstairs to find the others in the den practicing with their powers. Rose and Shara were levitating marbles under Alakazam's direction; Ayla could see that Rose still had a small lump on her head from the time she had crashed into the ceiling last week.

"Yegelos! One of the mind wipes has worn off; I need to go fix it. You stay here with Shara and watch the boys!" Ayla called and ducked out the front door, grabbing a heavy coat out of the closet.

Jeremy threw the coat on, noting how skimpy it felt on her new larger body frame. A big billowing cloak would have been better for covering herself against the eyes of the world, but for practical purposes there was no real reason for Jeremy to have one before. Until she bought one or learned how to psychically cloak herself, Ayla would just have to fly the hover car at high altitudes to avoid being seen.

The driver seat in the hover car proved woefully uncomfortable to Ayla's new body. If Jeremy had bought a compact car she probably wouldn't have fit in it at all. Her new feet were awkward on the pedals and she had to lay her tail across her lap when she sat down. When she drove she had to practically re-learn how to handle the pedals, so the flight over the city was jerky and nauseating. Thankfully it was late enough in the day that flight traffic was low, so no cop cars saw her tracing her jagged, irregular path through the sky. She flew out far enough into the forest so that the lights of the city were no longer visible and descended into a clearing to park.

Ayla shivered a little as she uncramped herself and climbed out of the car. There was a chilly autumn wind blowing through the trees that made her fur stand up a little straighter and twitch her tail a little more than usual. A few Hoothoot Pokémon in the trees were filling the night air with their titular calls and a few Houndour howls were audible in the distance.

"Oh great, Dark types... they'd better not be scaring him off." Ayla mumbled in frustration.

Ayla found a tree stump to sit on and waited peacefully in the dark for several minutes. Once impatience began to set in she decided to open up her mind and make it easy to detect so that Venius could home in on it like a beacon. It worked nearly instantaneously; she heard a whooshing sound overhead and looked up to see him descending from psychic flight. She waved up at him cheerfully and when he saw her he goggled at her with a profoundly shocked expression, dumbstruck and speechless.

"Venius! Good to see you made it safely." Ayla said, standing up to offer him a handshake as he landed.

"You're...you're...one of us?!" Venius stammered, too flabbergasted to notice her hand.

"Not blood related of course, but the same species." Ayla noted quickly.

"But...but...how?" Venius said, still stuttering wildly.

"Well, it's a bit of a long story. My friend knows a lot about genetics, and used nanites to change my DNA." Ayla said, starting to feel uncomfortable under his constant gaze.

"That's why I sensed a psychic seemingly coming out of nowhere… Good lord…" Venius said, stumbling backwards a bit as the mental shock affected his physical balance.

"Are you alright, sir?" Ayla asked gently, trying to be as polite as possible.

"Then that means that all those others I sensed...I need to tell Opulous!" The words burst out of Venius loudly and he closed his eyes and reached out to psychically contact someone.

"Venius wait; the others aren't ready yet, and they're afraid you won't accept them!" Ayla said, sensing him calling his brothers. She clasped her hands and practically begged him, "Please don't go rushing in on them yet!"

Venius was practically paralyzed with his shock, and the mental link he had established with his brothers was having a calming effect on him, so he didn't respond to her. Feeling panicked and rejected by Venius, Ayla desperately tried to telepathically reach out to him to get a response, but the result was like throwing feathers at a brick wall.

A second later, three flashes of light blinded Ayla as the rest of the four brothers all arrived via teleportation. Ayla was terrified at this point, worried that they would be angry at her or worse. Her ears flattened against her head, she tucked her tail between her legs and cowered slightly, unconsciously displaying a submissive posture.

"Holy shit, Venius was right!" One with orange fur and a frizzy tail exclaimed.

"Hey there, don't be afraid! We're not going to hurt you!" One with green fur said, reaching out his hand to Ayla.

"Right, um… I'm Ayla. You're the rest of Tanis' sons?" Ayla asked gently, easing up a little because of his gentleness.

"I'm Nolus, this is Cygnus and this is Opulous." Nolus said, gesturing to his brothers. "And you've already met Venius."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Nolus." Ayla said, turning to stare a little bit at Opulous' robotic arm. "Look, whatever Venius told you, we're not evil."

"He just said he found a human that had somehow transformed into one of us." Cygnus said gently before turning to Opulous. "Can we get a scan please?"

"Way ahead of you Cygnus, give me a second." Opulous said, staring at Ayla intently with a piercing purple-blue robotic eye.

"Ayla, how many others are there who are transformed?" Nolus asked calmly but firmly.

"Only five others. Only two other have fully transformed so far. None of them think you'll accept them, so please don't go busting in yet!" Ayla pleaded again.

"What are we going to do? What if others find out and do this too? We can't have hundreds of humans doing this!" Venius suddenly said to Cygnus, a tone of rage now evident in his voice.

"Calm down Venius, she said there were only 5 others so far!" Cygnus reassured him.

Venius didn't say anything to that but his expression of shock was now long gone, replace with an indignant fury.

"I would recognize the work of my program anywhere. Whoever transformed this girl used my Genetic Diversity Algorithm!" Opulous said with amazement after his scan completed.

"What? How is that possible?" Venius asked, even angrier now.

"Did you steal a copy of my program?" Opulous asked of Ayla.

"Rose got a data pad with this algorithm somewhere, but I don't remember where she got it. It's just the six of us anyway; we cut off all ties to the human world. If it makes you feel any better, our own parents don't even know they ever had kids now. No one is going to follow us." Ayla said defensively.

"They must have used a dose of computer-coordinated molecular-manipulator nanites to change themselves like this; it's the only way it would do it so completely and thoroughly. There's barely a trace of human DNA left in her." Opulous marveled, still staring at Ayla and not displaying any anger at her whatsoever.

"Good, that means there's still some there we can use to turn her and her friends back!" Venius said, scowling at her maliciously.

"No way! I already performed all the mind wipes, we can't go back!" Ayla protested desperately.

"Let's not be hasty Venius, why don't we see what these people are like before passing judgment on all of them?" Nolus suggested quickly before a fight could erupt.

"They must be very intelligent to have pulled this off at least!" Opulous pointed out.

"Ayla seems to be a decent person to me. I'm sure if we examined her mind it would quell your fears Venius." Cygnus suggested.

"Yeah, let's go with that. You can read my mind; I don't have anything to hide." Ayla volunteered, wanting to be as honest as possible with them.

"Fine, I just don't want to be the one to do it." Venius sputtered, caving under their pressure.

"Oh yeah? You seemed more than eager to jump into my head while I was asleep!" Ayla said with a scoff.

"I'll do it." Cygnus volunteered, once again defusing things before a fight could boil up.

Cygnus reached out for Ayla's hand and she eagerly gave it to him. "Just don't break anything, okay? I think I'm crazy enough as it is."

Cygnus chuckled a little bit and took her hand. His mental presence flowed through her mind like a gentle warmth radiating from a fireplace. She could suddenly feel his emotions and thoughts and couldn't help but smile, he had a very warm and friendly personality. Then, when he started sifting through her memories, it caused a little bit of what Ayla could only describe as a 'mental tickle', which made her grin and suppress a few giggles. It was like remembering all the best jokes she had ever heard all at once.

"How much farther?" She asked with a giggle.

"Just a little longer, I'm not going to scan every single memory in your head, that would take hours. I'm just inspecting your personality and a few choice bits." Cygnus said.

Ayla could feel him transmitting everything he saw in her mind to the other three, it was almost like feeling a little psychic feedback quivering through the air. All four of them closed their eyes simultaneously as they went over the information and finally the ticklish presence in Ayla's head faded and vanished. She stood there watching them apprehensively as they went over everything they had seen.

"That was amazing." Nolus said as he finished reviewing her memories.

"I guess she's not that bad..." Venius reluctantly admitted.

"So... you're not going to eat me?" Ayla asked timidly.

"We're not cannibals you-" Venius growled before Cygnus cut him off.

"Just calm down Venius, maybe you should go back home now. Nolus and I can handle things from here."

"Sweet, so do you actually accept me as a Pokémon?" Ayla asked, now feeling a bit excited.

Venius frowned. "We'll see. Tell me what you find out later Cygnus."

With that Venius vanished in a flash of orange, teleporting back home beyond the range of Ayla's current senses.

"I know you said that you didn't want us to come to your home yet, but I would like to see the machines you used to transform as soon as possible." Opulous said eagerly.

"Three of the guys are undergoing transformation right now, and Shara's watching them. I'll show you the next time I relieve her of her shift, but only if you promise not to tell Jeremy. He'd kill me if he knew I was talking to you without permission!" Ayla replied.

"We can disguise ourselves as humans if you're worried." Nolus suggested.

"No, I'll make sure Shara, Rose and Yegelos are out of the house before you come in. Everyone else is asleep." Ayla said, a plan forming in her head. "But if you ever meet the others after their transformations are complete, you'll have to pretend you met Jeremy first."

"Very well, I should like to meet this Jeremy fellow anyway, since he's the one who organized this transformation ordeal." Opulous agreed.

**Chapter VIII – Lucas 2**

Lucas was dreaming, he knew that much. Why else was he waking up in some strange hotel room after going to sleep and getting that nanite injection in Jeremy's house? Unless he had been kidnapped in his sleep then it logically had to be a dream. It certainly felt all fuzzy and incoherent like most dreams.

Then Lucas realized something horrible, he knew this hotel. He had been here before, it was the little Budget Abra Inn that he had stayed in over 18 years ago, he recognized the pale orange light of the sign that was gently filtering through the ugly brown curtains. He felt himself begin to sweat, he hadn't had one of these nightmares in several years and had managed to convince himself that maybe they wouldn't come back. He stumbled out of his bed and crossed over to the other side of the room, reaching for the door. Light was seeping out through the crack underneath and he thought that maybe he could escape into another dream through it.

But beyond the door, Lucas didn't find an escape route or a different reality, he found what appeared to be himself at 18 years old exactly. He saw himself idly warming up a TV dinner in the little hotel room microwave and humming tunelessly. It was brutally familiar, he had relived this whole scenario in his nightmares before, only from a first person view. This was the first time he had ever seen it from the third person, but it didn't lessen any of the stress of the experience. He counted down the seconds on his hand, knowing that as soon as the phantom of himself at the table took his third bite of that TV dinner, a huge crashing explosion would sound less than a mile outside the outskirts of the small town. He suddenly noticed that he had only three fingers on each hand now and grinned; seeing his new body slowly taking shape helped him deal with the stress of having to watch himself go through this again.

The little motel room shuddered from the force of the explosion and Lucas saw his phantom drop the plastic spoon to the plate in surprise. The phantom rushed over to push curtains out of a window and look outside. Lucas wanted to reach out and grab him by the shoulder and warn him not to go out there but he knew it would have no effect. His past self would go on reenacting the scene as if he wasn't there at all.

Lucas did the only thing he really could do, he followed the phantom down the steps and out of the motel. He got the feeling that there was a reason he was seeing this dream again and he wanted to know what that reason was, no matter how painful it would be. He watched, partly in curiosity and partly in horror, as his phantom snuck around the alleys of the town to find a good vantage point. Lucas tried to lean on a trash can while watching his phantom and stumbled as his slowly transforming arm passed right through it like a ghost.

Lucas got back to his feet just as Tanis, Shakara and Ashley ran down the street past the alley where he and his past self were hiding. His phantom waited until they were far enough away to sneak out and follow them, and he then followed the phantom. The whole procession made it across the town, not stopping until Tanis and company snuck into that huge factory-esque industrial complex in the center of town.

Lucas watched as his phantom tried to open the door and failed. It was at that point he realized the significance of the situation; he reached his hand out and tried to touch the door and when it passed right through the solid steel he knew that he could go inside and see what had happened Tanis & Co. Once his phantom had finally given up on opening the door and left, he walked through it completely and emerged into the dark chamber beyond. He saw Tanis & Co. standing there in the doorway, quietly inspecting their surroundings and looking for a hiding spot. The building appeared to be some sort of factory, or maybe a power plant. It was three stories tall and had three rows of scaffolding along the walls. There was a large machine in the center of the room though it was difficult to tell what purpose is served. A few beams of reddish light suddenly poured through the second story windows; Ares's gunships were sweeping the city.

Tanis pointed a finger towards an empty mineshaft with a ladder that descended into the darkness and the three of them ran over and began climbing down. Lucas followed them quickly, knowing that this was his chance to finally see what had happened to the three of them. The darkness was impenetrable as they all climbed down the ladder and it didn't improve until Ashley produced a flashlight. They journeyed as deep as they could go into the mine before reaching a dead end. The three of them stood there nervously waiting for something to happen as Lucas watched. They panted loudly in the otherwise deathly silence of the cavern.

"We need to save batteries, so I'm going to turn this light emitter off for awhile." Shakara said. "I hope none of you are afraid of the dark."

Shakara turned off the flashlight and the entire scene went pitch-black. For a moment Lucas could still hear their heavy breathing, but after several moments that seemed to fade out too. Lucas began to wonder if the dream had ended, or if Tanis and company had been stranded here for months or even years. That's when the silence of the emptiness was interrupted by the sound of an unfamiliar voice.

"Are you Lucas?"

"Y-yes...who are you?" Lucas said, unable to do anything other than answer truthfully.

A pair of bluish-purple eyes opened in the darkness and focused upon Lucas. One of them appeared to be robotic, it had a glassy sheen and glowed a little bit.

"My name is Opulous."

The names of all four of Tanis's sons weren't exactly public knowledge, so Opulous didn't exactly ring a bell. But Lucas was sharp and he could tell from the eyes that he was talking to a member of the Mewtwo species. He didn't know what to say at all so he remained silent, waiting for Opulous to continue speaking. Opulous' whole face slowly faded into view now, and Lucas could see that a little less than half of it was covered with an organic-looking metal.

"I don't have much time, but I wanted to tell you not to worry; I have met your friend Ayla and she has told us everything. We are not angry at you for performing this transformation." Opulous said, looking a little bit distracted.

"Thank you, all I ever wanted was to help your kind. I know the world would be a better place if run by Mewtwos..." Lucas said softly, noticing Opulous's distraction.

"Even if Venius doesn't quite understand your feelings, the rest of us do and we will not act rashly." Opulous added gently. "I must go. I will see you again soon."

Lucas felt as if a ten ton weight had been lifted from him, he couldn't help but sigh from relief. He smiled a bit as Opulous vanished back into the darkness, knowing that he might just get his chance to help the Mewtwo race after all. The transformation might not be for naught despite all his fears to the contrary.

Once Opulous had gone the dream resumed again, skipping ahead to the point where Tanis and Ashley were safely hidden away inside the human rebel colony out of the grasp of Ares' Acolytes. It showed him everything from Tanis and Shakara training in preparation to fight Ares to getting into that shouting match with the colony's council over the captured gunship. Then he witnessed Ares' invasion of the rebel colony in the middle of this shouting match. A chunk of concrete from the collapsing ceiling of the council chamber fell and passed right through him as the digger emerged from above, making him cringe. It was a startling reminder of his ethereal nature during the dream.

Lucas ran after Tanis and company and watched with a grim fascination as they fled down the stairway to escape the Acolytes. He yelled a few profanities when suddenly the entire corridor where he was standing to watch was engulfed in a violent explosion. In his ethereal form he was unharmed, but being on the inside of an exploding hallway would rattle anyone's nerves. Once the dust and debris cleared he saw his three role models barely dangling from the railings of the stairs as the entire steel stairway tilted and fell. He wanted to leap down there and help them but he knew that it wouldn't do anything. He could only watch as the scene slowly played out. Acolytes emerged from the hallway and swarmed around him and fired their laser rifles down at the trio, Lucas kicked at one a few times to get his anger out.

To Lucas's relief the trio managed to get down to the cave floor safely and he glided down through the air after them and followed them into the rebel colony's hangar. The last thing he saw before the dream faded away at last was the three of them boarding a gunship and barely escaping in time. His sleep after that would be undisturbed and peaceful, the dream had finally put to rest one of his biggest inner demons. Instead of forcing him to relive the scene where he had been tortured by Ares and given in to tell them which building Tanis had fled into, he got to see what happened inside that building and how Tanis had managed to escape. When it would come time for him to finally wake up he would have one less weight hanging over his mind.

A/N: Good Goddesses above this chunk was long. If you want to ask me why I didn't break it up, the answer is simple: I wanted to keep this transformation mini-arc gathered together into one coherent unit so I wouldn't have to intersperse it in between the points of view of my other characters. It felt stylistically important to keep these chapters together. I did warn you that this chunk was going to be monstrously large after all!

Next chunk we're going to go back to the POVs of the original non-transformed 'Twos, starting with Cygnus (unless I get a sudden change of plans). Once I get the chunk where the cultists do an official big first contact meeting with the brothers out of the way we'll be free and clear to get into the construction of K'tellian society (which I am especially excited about). Stick around, things are only going to get more and more interesting as the story progresses!


	19. Part II: The Book of K'telle : Chunk 5

**The Four Mirrors**

A Sequel to Legacies

By MMM/AJ

**A/N**: Ok guys, this chunk took especially long because of a particularly nasty writer's block that hit me with a roundhouse to the face halfway through chapter X. I also have my own laziness (boosted by summer and my new xbox360) to blame. Anyway, here's a decent sized 9 pager for you with a tiny little cliffhanger at the end.

**Chapter IX – Cygnus 7**

Back when Cygnus had first moved into his new house in Purity Canyon, one of the first thoughts that crossed his mind was how boring his life could be now that his dad was no longer there to act as a teacher for them. Even though Cygnus had never had much self confidence in his own ability to learn he still enjoyed his father's lessons and never skipped class. So when he finally found himself sitting idle in his new home as an adult with no real purpose, Cygnus decided to continue teaching himself new things as the years passed. Opulous had made it clear that he eventually wanted to start building a whole society from the ground up, so Cygnus went online and learned everything about Civics and history that he could find. Without the stress of exams being imposed on him from the outside he learned at his own semi-relaxed pace, and over the years he branched out into other subjects that caught his interest. He studied history, criminology, and even a touch of economics. He still had a strong distaste for anything with equations though, so he never got too deep into the economics.

Once the kids came onto the scene Cygnus had studied enough to feel confident in his role as a teacher for them. As soon as they were old enough to learn he took up the role of their history and civics teacher, and he continued the advancement of his own knowledge during that time so that he could keep teaching them well into their high school days. He was following the example that Opulous had made when he had volunteered to teach the kids everything from basic math to chemistry and physics. Soon after that they all volunteered to teach, each taking different subjects. Nolus taught biology and genetics, Melicia taught art, Venius taught music and English, and Satoria taught Pokémon handling.

Cygnus had been right in the middle of grading history assignments when the first news came in of those humans who had managed to transform themselves. He vividly remembered dropping his stylus onto the console and causing a big red line to cross out where one of his students had typed a paragraph about Ares. When he had scanned the mind of the human named Ayla he had mostly concentrated on getting to know her personality and disposition as well as a few elements of her past. He saw that they had found Mewtwo's DNA on an old hard drive from an abandoned Team Rocket hideout and had been satisfied with that, not bothering to look much deeper. He had checked her story about the nanites and Opulous' program to confirm all of that, and when it checked out too he had ended the mind scan.

Venius came to him the day after they met Ayla, unsure of what to do.

"What are we going to do with them Cygnus? I'm losing my mind trying to think of a solution. They cut themselves off from their families, their jobs, essentially their entire lives. We can't just let them walk in and stay in our houses!"

Cygnus frowned. "So we should just turn them away and let them go live in the wild, is that what you're saying? And don't you say that we should turn them back into humans again, we already agreed that we wouldn't force them back into that!" Cygnus replied angrily.

"Well then are you going to let all six of them move into your house? Because I'm certainly not letting them into mine!"

"Would you let go of your goddamn prejudices for once and just give these people a chance? They're not even humans anymore and you still won't even give them the time of day!" Cygnus said, banging his fist on his basement workbench angrily.

"But they're just pretenders! They're still humans in the guise of our species! Under all of that technology and deception they're still humans, born and raised!"

A memory swam up in Cygnus's mind so powerfully that he had to speak it: "Venius, don't you remember what our grandfather once said? 'The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant.'"

Venius looked as if he had been hit with the emotional equivalent of a tritanium two-by-four to the face. He went from enraged and indignant to utterly ashamed in an instant and could not muster any words to reply to Cygnus.

"You don't have to take of those people in, don't worry. I'll host your share, at least until my family and I earn enough building supplies to make them their own homes." Cygnus added.

Venius looked even more ashamed now, if he didn't do his part and help after all of that then he'd look bad. He'd look very bad.

"I'll take one of them in." Venius said quietly. "Might as well take the girl who I met first, I think her name was Aylee…"

"Ayla." Cygnus corrected. "Now why don't you let me finish clearing out my basement for them in peace?"

Venius trudged up the stairs quietly, still looking quite sullen and upset. Cygnus went back to work rearranging the equipment in his basement to make room for the ex-humans. Thankfully his basement wasn't as crowded and full as those of his brothers, the most he kept down here were a few keepsakes and the construction equipment that his family had been earning from Montalbo. He didn't really have any extra beds for the ex-humans to sleep on, the best he could do was to bring them a few spare pillows and blankets and spread them out on the concrete floor. He'd have to spend some more of their family's saved credits to buy the new beds.

Later that afternoon Nolus went to have an interview with the ex-humans again, this time it would be an 'official' meeting. Ayla had been worried that their leader Jeremy would be upset about her meeting Cygnus's family before him, so they decided to let her set up a little ruse for an 'official first contact'. Cygnus thought it sounded a little silly and paranoid, but it wasn't that big of a deal for them to pretend it was the first time they had met. Besides, Nolus was taking it alone.

"They're not so bad." Nolus said when he got home that evening. "They're definitely humble and polite!"

Cygnus offered Nolus a chair and they sat together in the kitchen with Opulous and Tamista. He offered them drinks but only Tamista accepted.

"Here's my take on the situation," Nolus began, "They're timid. They have been deathly afraid of what we might think of them from the moment they first thought up the idea of transforming themselves. Jeremy is probably the strongest-willed out of the bunch and even he was bowing to me when I first went down there. I asked them again why they chose to change their lives like this and they said that they wanted to use their powers for the good of our species. They're too inexperienced with those abilities to be deceiving us with them, so it looks like they're the real deal."

"Did you tell them that we're going to be beginning construction on several new homes once we clear out the pollution in K'telle?" Opulous asked.

"Yeah, and they immediately volunteered to help. I don't know how useful they'll be since they're so inexperienced with handling their powers, but every set of hands helps."

"Even if they are unable to manipulate matter at a sufficient skill level to suit our purposes, we can still use whatever natural stores of psychic energy that their minds and bodies have accumulated over a transfer link to keep ourselves going even after our own energy stores have depleted." Opulous suggested.

"Do you think we could try to train them before getting to that task?" Tamista asked.

"Definitely not in time to make it tomorrow, when we want to start. It will take a long time for them to become proficient with their abilities. It could take weeks or even months." Opulous said quietly.

"Why? It's not that hard!" Tamista said, making her cup of juice boil, freeze, and then go back to normal temperature in the span of a few seconds with her powers.

"Yes but we were born with these abilities, we grew up with them and learned how to use them over the course of our childhoods. These humans have just jumped into the deep end and only one of them even has any real background knowledge on how they work. It's like having a third arm grafted on one day and having to learn how to control it while still handling the other two." Opulous explained.

Tamista gave a heavy sigh and stared into her glass. "Yeah, I guess that's probably true. It's pretty easy to take these powers for granted. I've never really gone for any extended period of time without them."

"That's ok Tam, no worries. I spent all those months in prison and I still forget how lucky we are to have them." Cygnus said, giving her a pat on the shoulder.

"So did you ask them about their living arrangements and how long until they'll need to move?" Opulous inquired thoughtfully.

"Jeremy said that since he has full ownership of the house in New Saffron that they could all stay there for several weeks if need be. He has enough money saved to pay for their utilities and food for at least 6 months, but once that runs out they'll need to sell the house and move in with us."

"At the rate that everyone is working we should have enough building materials saved up to build a whole town before then!" Cygnus said enthusiastically. "We'd be able to give them a house each!"

"Why should we do that?" Venius asked, suddenly appearing in the door to the kitchen with a frustrated look on his face.

Cygnus frowned, wondering if Venius had already forgotten their grandfather's words. "Because we're not assholes?"

Venius gave a frustrated grunt and said, "No, because if they're going to live in that house of theirs in New Saffron for a few months before coming to live with us then that's plenty of time for them to work off the cost of the building materials for any of the houses we build for them! It's not being an asshole to expect them to do their fair share!"

"That's true, we don't want to coddle them too much. I don't know what our kids would think if we gave free houses to strangers before we gave any to them!" Tamista noted, rubbing her chin.

"See, there you go!" Venius said, gesturing towards Tamista with a gratified expression. "It would be unfair!"

"All right, fine, you're right Venius. But I think I'll be the one to tell them that they'll have to work for us to get their new homes when they come over tomorrow, not you."

"Fine by me." Venius agreed, and reached over to snatch the glass of fruit juice out of Tamista's hand to take a sip.

**Chapter X – Talas 1**

Talas felt only a little bit nervous as he and the rest of his family flew through the air across the Orre region. The withering orange deserts streaked past beneath them as they soared south, heading towards the meeting point at the edge of the great divide. They were looking for a small cluster of parked hover cars somewhere out in the glaring tracts of orange sands, that would be where they'd find the little group of ex-humans who would be joining them on their first day of work cleaning the pollution out of K'telle.

The burning bright sunlight made his eyes water as he tried to scan the desert below them for the parked hover cars, and he had to put a hand over the top of his eyes to block it out. Eventually he heard Opulous's voice call out and he saw him pointing his arm at the horizon; the great divide was finally coming into view.

It was the first time Talas had ever seen the canyon in real life before, it opened up below him like a massive, craggy orange mouth almost a mile deep. It was the largest man-made canyon on Earth, having been dug out by impact bombing in an attempt to isolate the polluted dumplands from the rest of the Orre region. Orre Governess Maris Pullano had started the dig several years ago when Talas was a small child, and had enlisted Shakara for protectorate help to complete it. It spanned practically the entire border between the dumplands and Orre, ending just before the beaches where the ocean began. It didn't have the meandering and jagged quality of a canyon dug by a river, but instead was shaped from large clusters of overlapping craters that had dug deeper and deeper into the earth from bomb impacts. Over the years the sludge from the dumplands had seeped down into it, but since rain was a rare occurrence in this climate it didn't have flowing water to aid and accelerate it.

It was Kaira Ryelle who first spotted the telltale grouping of parked hover cars, shouting eagerly and suddenly descending towards them. The cultists had parked near the edge of the canyon and were standing there staring down into its depths, admiring the view. Talas and the rest of his 27 person extended family curved downwards sharply and soared towards the Earth.

The leader of the group that Talas presumed was the one named Jeremy bowed to them as they landed. Talas looked on from the back eagerly, watching as Nolus gestured to Jeremy to stand.

"You don't need to do that you know! We're all equals here!" Nolus scolded.

Talas could practically hear Venius rolling his eyes, but he remained silent. The introductions came soon after that, Nolus gently introduced each of the ex-humans to the rest of the family. Talas noticed how nervous the one named Lucas seemed, and Ayla was a perfectly cheerful and goofy the whole time. The rest of the family seemed eager to meet them, except for Venius's. They were aloof and quiet the whole time, which seemed to make Lucas, Jeremy and Alan even more nervous.

"Now then, onto the primary reason we're all here today besides the introductions: cleaning out the pollution in K'telle." Opulous said before an awkward silence could creep in after the introductions. "Our number one priority today will be the removal of the massive cluster of nuclear waste barrels in the southern quarter. We'll need to raise our own personal psychic shields to protect ourselves from radiation poisoning, and-"

"Excuse me, did you say nuclear waste?!" Emael interrupted with a frightened and angry tone.

"Yes mister Redclaw, you heard me correctly. When Ares built his eight space stations and started up the Blue River, it took an unfathomable amount of startup energy to open the portal. He built massive numbers of primitive fission reactors to power his dimensional distortion arrays, and once the River reached a self-sustaining level there was nothing left for him to do with the half-spent fuel except dump it here. There are about three tons worth of it in barrels that need to be teleported to a proper solar disposal vessel parked nearby. Once we've gathered it all the vessel will take it out into space for us and shoot it towards the sun where it will be incinerated."

"Isn't this dangerous?" Aturiel asked nervously.

"Only if our environmental bubbles are ruptured or compromised for some reason. Even if they are, it's still possible to heal radiation sickness using psychic recovery methods. It's slow and painful, but still possible. Let that be a motivation not to let your energy get so low that your bubbles might fade!"

"What about us?" Alan asked, speaking for himself and the rest of his ex-human group. "We can barely even stack stones with our minds yet, let alone create environmental shield bubbles."

"You and your group will be staying behind and acting as psychic batteries for us, if you'll forgive my metaphor. I'm going to link all of our minds together into a single psychic network, and you six will transmit all of your energy stores to us over this link once we begin to run low. You don't need to do anything other than maintain your parts of the mental links, we'll draw the energy ourselves." Opulous said quietly.

"Boy, they sure are getting the easy stuff!" Talas's sister Elemir whispered to him covertly. Talas frowned but didn't reply.

"It's not going to take very much of our energy just to teleport these barrels to the vessel, so after we've completed our primary objective we can move on to the distillation and removal of the other non-radioactive toxins. Be advised that you all might still want to keep your bubbles up even after the radioactive waste is gone though, the odor of the various pollutants is indescribably foul." Opulous continued.

"I know, I can smell traces of it from here!" Jeselle Nevica piped in from the gaggle of Nolus's family.

"Are there any questions about what we're doing before we head out?" Opulous inquired, and nodded when none came. "Good, everyone except Jeremy's group follow me."

The flight across K'telle could barely be described in words; Talas didn't raise his bubble in time to avoid the full strength of the stench and it burned away at his nostrils soon after they made it over the dumplands. It reeked in a burning, acrid way like an acid bath would, and Talas raised his bubble the moment he smelled it. But it was too late, it was all around him and once he raised his bubble it was trapped in there with him. If he had managed to raise the bubble sooner he would have created his own little pocket of recycled fresh air, but now he'd have to live with that stink for the next few hours. He knew he should have raised it sooner, but he had been having too much fun feeling the cold air whip across his body during flight.

"So what do you think of those weirdo cultists?" Emael's psychic voice suddenly asked inside of Talas's head. "I'm amazed my dad didn't force them to use that same method to turn themselves back into humans."

"He probably would have if the other 3 brothers hadn't overridden him." Talas replied simply, watching the sludge covered miles pass underneath.

"Maybe he should have. Maybe it's not such a good idea to just let humans pry their way into our species using a few crudely built nanites? I think it's both dangerous and stupid to let them jump into our gene pool like this."

"Listen Emael, I'm not a violent anti-humanist like you, you should save your rants for someone who cares." Talas replied angrily. "As far as I'm concerned, you and your father are backwards racist bigots."

Talas could sense Emael's rage over the link before it snapped shut, and a part of him smiled inside at the fact that he could get Emael flustered so easily. It wasn't that he thought of Emael as a bad person, he was just sick and tired of the rampant racism that the majority of Venius's family seemed to be afflicted with. He wanted to stay friendly with them, but it was difficult whenever they started going off on their hour-long rants about how humanity is responsible for all of the evil in the world.

It took longer to actually find the barrels of waste than it did for them all to dispose of them. They had to cross many miles to reach the barrels, Opulous didn't want them wasting energy simply teleporting over, and once they arrived the disposal only took a few minutes teleporting one barrel at a time. That quickly opened the door to the brutally slow and tedious grunt work of psychically filtering the other toxins out of the soil.

Talas hadn't exactly been eager to get himself linked up to everyone's minds today either; the prospect seemed a little chilling to him. The only other time he had experienced it was during the inter-house meeting to decide the name for their new homeland, and he had found it disturbingly easy to delve too deeply into such a link and lose himself in it. When the meeting had ended and the link closed he had felt suddenly shattered and alone, and the concept of going through that again after they were done with the day's work cleaning up in K'telle was unappealing enough to make Talas nervous.

Yet, Talas couldn't help but enjoy it when he did finally join this link again. It made his work sifting through the contaminants more than just tolerable, it turned it into family time. He didn't have to break his concentration on the task at hand to hold telepathic conversations with at least 4 other people at once, and he could hear their voices and feel their emotions flowing through his mind as he worked. Then the emotional bomb struck.

It started out simply enough, Nolus's daughter Kaira Ryelle was telepathically talking with Talas's brother Aturiel over the link. Talas wasn't listening to them before the argument broke out, but once it did nobody who was hooked into the link could block it out.

"What do you mean you're dumping me?!" Kaira's telepathic voice suddenly boomed into everyone's heads, causing all the work to immediately grind to a halt.

"Would you calm down, your psychic voice is making my head hurt!" Aturiel replied, unaware of the irony in the fact that he was being just as loud.

"Good! If you're going to dump me for my goddamned sister, then maybe your head should hurt you worthless sack of shit!" Kaira yelled even louder.

Talas lost all control over the chemicals he was working with and dropped them to the ground, gripping his head with both hands and flinching from the onslaught. He could feel every ounce of the rage and betrayal that Kaira was feeling and it clouded his mind and stirred up his own anger. Suddenly he too felt like attacking and hurting Aturiel, forgetting the fact that he was his brother and getting swallowed up in Kaira's emotions. He hadn't even known that Kaira and Aturiel had been romantically involved before, and now he was willing to do something violent over it just because of how well the link transmitted emotions.

Meanwhile while everyone was mentally incapacitated by Kaira's mental rampage, thick black clouds were gathering with an unnatural swiftness and swirling around overhead. In her rage, Kaira's powers were getting out of her control and were summoning up a large lightning storm. Before anyone knew what was going on, the clouds became thick enough to blot out the sunlight and bolts of lightning rained down upon the soiled ground around them.

At this point Aturiel finally got it through his skull that it was time for him to exit stage left. He abruptly broke away from the link and soared off into the air to escape. Kaira, whose aura was now glowing a burning red, quickly broke off as well and gave chase. As soon as Talas was free from Kaira's paralyzing emotional influence he quickly jumped into the air and was about to chase after them, but his father quickly interrupted.

"No Talas, don't get yourself involved, we'll handle this." Cygnus said, and then all four of the brothers broke the link and flew off to handle the situation.

Since Opulous had been using his mind as a network hub for the link, as soon as he disconnected himself the whole thing essentially shattered into a chaotic jumble of smaller telepathic connections. Talas was left hovering there a few dozen feet off of the ground, watching as the lightning gleefully flashed around them in celebration of a secret love lost.

A/N: Alright guys, it seems like there's more happening between the members of our new generation than what we've seen on the surface. A hidden romance just got shattered, and the results are a little bit more violent than expected. That's what happens when such a powerful psychic has to endure the agony of rejection from one's love interest! We'll see a resolution to this little debacle in the next chunk, along with a little time skip to the end of the cleansing of K'telle!

And guys, I'd like to let you know that I've been doing a little bit of collaborative writing with a friend of mine by the name of Vergial2. We're writing a romance story based on future K'telle that involves Kaira Ryelle. So if you're interested, do a ffnet author search for Vergial2 and look up our collab posted in his profile called "A Meeting of Two". Thanks!


	20. Part II: The Book of K'telle : Chunk 6

**The Four Mirrors**

A Sequel to Legacies

By MMM/AJ

**A/N**: Alright guys, I owe you an apology for how long this one took. I take all the blame for this one, I got a really nasty terminal case of Summer Lazy Syndrome. But here's an interesting new Kaira chapter for you, followed by a chapter from her dad. Hope you enjoy!

**Chapter XI – Kaira 1**

The little plastic collar made a pronounced clicking sound as it snapped over Kaira's second neck, and she made a pronounced gagging noise when the localized psionic disruptor field kicked in. The collar had been specifically designed and built by Opulous for her to wear as punishment for stabbing Aturiel, it operated by creating a miniature disruption field just through her second neck to keep her from using any of her psychic powers. As usual, the side effect was intense nausea and Kaira felt like she was turning green from how sick it made her at first.

"Please Dad, don't make me wear this!" Kaira begged Nolus in one last bid to appeal to his softer side.

"I'm sorry Kaira, this isn't a decision that I made alone. My brothers and I agreed on this sentence, I can't just override it. It was attempted murder and everyone knows if, it we hadn't stopped you, you would have torn Aturiel apart. We have to keep some semblance of justice intact, especially when we're trying to build a society here! Besides, 5 years without your psychic abilities is much less than Cygnus wanted! You could have killed one of his sons, and he was absolutely furious. He wanted your powers revoked permanently to keep you from ever abusing them again!" Nolus said, trying to be gentle with his reprimands.

Kaira's shoulders slumped and a miserable frown sagged across her face. She felt helpless and sick now, a single human with a gun could kill her with ease. "What about all the work on the pollution in K'telle? We were going to go again today weren't we?"

"You're just going to have stay here at home. Study, maybe do some art for Melicia, or if you still really want to help us you can sort building materials at Venius's place. We're going to be finishing up the last bit of cleaning tonight and starting construction tomorrow, and I hear Emael has made a huge mess of the storage pile by throwing piles of lumber and steel on without keeping it organized." Nolus suggested.

"I guess." Kaira said with a sigh. "Do I need to parade around so that everyone can see my fancy new fashion accessory?"

"Please don't be like that Kaira. I understand how upsetting this experience is but you can't make it turn you into a bitter and angry person. Everyone who has known you loves your cheerful and outgoing demeanor!" Nolus said gloomily.

"Listen Dad, if you need me I'll be in my room ok?" Kaira asked, her scowl not improving as another wave of nausea passed over her.

Nolus's face bent into a genuine expression of paternal worry and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders for a comforting embrace. "I'm more worried that you'll need me. I love you, you know."

Kaira's rage finally gave way under his reassurances and she returned his hug. "I love you too Dad."

Kaira spent the rest of that afternoon closed up in her room reading old data files on her computer. Her father came by once to tell her that everyone was leaving to clean more pollution out of K'telle, but she had quickly sunk back into her sour mood by then and dismissed her father with a grunt and wave of her hand. That collar on her second neck wouldn't stop giving her steady waves of nausea, and even though they weren't as bad as the first time the collar was put on they still made her feel miserable. Every fresh wave of physical unease was a reminder of her emotional pain over Aturiel, and thinking about him made her feel bitter and angry, to the point where her studies were no longer fun. She was normally a bit of a history buff like Cygnus, but now she couldn't even enjoy reading the assignments he left for her. After the rest of the family was gone she wandered idly out of her room to see what else she could do to quell her boredom while they were gone.

Kaira found nothing in the house to satisfy her painful listlessness though. She took a few berries out of the fridge and idly popped them into her mouth as she wandered around, trying to decide what to do. She felt this uncomfortable need to move, like a dull ache in her muscles when she stood too still for long. She went up and down the stairs a few times, staring idly at the same old boring house plants as she went. Finally sick of boredom, she decided to go over to Venius's house and sort building materials like her father had suggested. She went down the stairs one more time and clenched the doorknob in her hand, thinking how annoying it was that she couldn't open it with her mind anymore. She'd have to do it by hand from now on for the next five years, and the prospect of it and so many other small annoyances made her grind her teeth with frustration even more.

The weather was just starting to change again when Kaira made it outside. The clear sky was rapidly being overcome by a large bank of dark grey clouds whose underbellies were swollen with moisture. She jogged across the lawn at a brisk pace but didn't make it in time to outrun Purity Canyon's famously fast-changing weather; the downpour hit just as she was ten feet away from the porch of Venius's house. She reflexively tried to make a psychic barrier over her head to stop the rain but was met with another sickening wave of nausea. She sprinted the rest of the way to the porch but by the time she vaulted up the steps she was soaked from head to toe. She stood there for a few minutes to let the worst of the water drip off and muttered vulgarities aloud at her misfortune. There were 7 members of Venius's Luxray pride lying relaxed on the porch, including Luxxy who gently stirred and turned over to face Kaira.

"What are you looking at?" Kaira growled.

Luxxy stared at her with those piercing X-ray eyes for a few moments before snorting dismissively and closing her eyes to sleep more.

"Bloody Luxrays, you're about as energetic and useful as Snorlaxes." Kaira mumbled before heading inside, no longer caring if she got Venius's carpet wet.

The house was just as cluttered as usual, Venius had never been as much of a clean freak as his brothers and it showed in the disarrayed stacks of brick-a-brack that accumulated on most flat surfaces. Everything from gifts from the Ketchums to Pokemon care equipment to dirty dishes and trash were scattered willy-nilly with mindless abandon. Kaira stepped around a large pile of scattered electronics equipment on her way through the hallway toward the basement, wondering how Venius and his family could stand living like this, especially when psychically cleaning wasn't that difficult.

"Ugh, Emael you're such a pig!" Kaira complained loudly when she saw the huge pile of building materials stacked in the basement.

The place was an absolute disaster, there were tritanium and steel girders straight from the Montalbo mills, bags filled with various steel and tritanium nuts, bolts and screws, bundles of lumber bought with extra credits made from Montalbo, pipes, wires, siding, plastic bubbles filled with foam insulation, and many other assorted construction materials all haphazardly mixed together into one massive pile in the center of the basement. Obviously Venius and Emael had just thrown new items onto the pile as they acquired them, turning what should have been an organized repository into practically a hurricane impact zone. Kaira sighed and got to work, picking up bags of screws and bolts and throwing them over in a corner, starting a pile.

The work turned out to be much more grueling than Kaira had anticipated. Without her psychic abilities to lift up the large steel beams she needed to use a hover trolley to move them around the basement, and lifting them up onto the trolley alone was almost more than her arms could handle. After an hour of work her back was pulsing with pain and she had to stop to take a break. She went back upstairs and raided the fridge for a glass of fruit juice.

"Goddamn, doesn't Venius have any Pecha Juice? All of the stuff in here is too sour!" Kaira griped, pushing past jugs of Sitrus and Aspear juice.

Kaira settled on a glass of water and sipped gently as she wandered aimlessly through the house. There were too many dirty dishes strewn around the kitchen for Kaira's taste, so she decided to idly explore a bit. She turned the corner from the kitchen door and headed down the hall toward the bedrooms. She passed Emael's room and the rooms of his various other siblings before reaching Venius's door. She turned the knob with a sudden malicious curiosity, wondering what she might find inside. Unfortunately it stopped with a loud click before turning all the way, and Kaira jiggled it a few more times before giving up. She scolded herself for thinking that Venius would leave his door unlocked, and what would she have done in there anyway? It could only lead to more trouble for her.

That was when Kaira noticed that Melicia's door was standing open by a foot, and a glint of color in that crack between the door and the wall caught her eye. In a moment of overwhelming curiosity she wandered over to the door and pushed it open to peek inside.

Melicia's room wasn't much cleaner than the rest of the house, there were art supplies scattered all over, and blotches of various colored paints on the walls and carpet. That was the splash of color that Kaira had seen, and she gave a heavy sigh before taking another sip from the glass of water she had carried with her. She glanced around a little bit, not wanting to disturb anything but still too curious to leave. She didn't find anything out of the ordinary; Melicia was just as messy as everyone else in this house and Kaira had already seen the paintings that she had been working on. She was about to turn away and head back to the kitchen to find something else to snack on when she noticed something strange. The corner of something seemed to be peeking out from underneath the pillow on Melicia's unmade bed. It was brown and shiny, almost like a plastic wrapper of some sort. Kaira's mind immediately sprung to life trying to guess what it was, and she debated whether or not to pick up the pillow to find out. A few impure thoughts raced through her head but she stamped them out and lifted the pillow to see.

It wasn't anything sinister; at least it didn't strike Kaira as sinister at first. It was just the wrapper to a chocolate candy bar. A muddled expression played across Kaira's face and she bent down to examine it more closely. There was no mistaking the 'Snackers' brand logo right there, along with its slogan for the nuttiest chocolate bar on the face of the Earth. It wouldn't have bothered her if it didn't seem so out of place; none of their four families consumed food that was produced by humans. They grew and processed their own food here at home using their greenhouse and a little bit of psychic zip. Why would Melicia be eating human food? Especially something so terribly unhealthy and disgustingly sweet? Kaira liked sweet flavors but that didn't extend beyond her own favorite choice of berries; anything with processed white sugar packed in tasted overwhelming and artificial to her, and she knew that the rest of her family agreed. At least, now she thought she knew. That wrapper staring up at her was a testament that Melicia at least thought otherwise.

Another thought struck Kaira again, this time much more frightening than the last. They didn't go to human stores that often, only to buy building materials that they couldn't get through Montalbo, or perhaps the odd few bits of furniture or knick knacks. This meant that Melicia had been going to human stores to buy unhealthy food alone and unprotected. She was endangering her own life by traveling by herself unarmed, only for the purpose of satisfying her own sweet tooth. It seemed both idiotic and selfish to Kaira, putting herself at risk just for a little self-indulgence. If she wandered into a psionic disruption field and a single psi-slayer human saw her, they could shoot and kill her without anyone else there to help her. Then the families would be wracked with grief and loss again and it would be like Tanis all over again. It was carless, self-centered, and Kaira knew there was essentially nothing that she could do about it. If she told, nobody would believe her and she'd be making an enemy out of Melicia. The only thing she could do was to leave a note for Melicia begging her to stop. She went over to Melicia's holo-computer terminal and left the message for her, signing it anonymously.

**Chapter XII – Nolus 6**

"On the count of three!" Cygnus said with a tinge of excitement in his voice.

The four of them put one hand each on the handle of a large metal shovel that they had stood up on the sandy soil. The sun was shining harshly above their heads as the whole family gathered around; they were about to break the ground for the first time in K'telle. Nolus and his brothers all had a hand in it as they all counted down aloud, and the shovel's dull metal edge bit into the ground amidst a loud collective cheer from all four families.

Even with all their psychic powers, the four families had taken a full week of hard work to finish cleaning the pollution out of K'telle. With the constant minor setbacks such as the incident between Kaira and Aturiel getting in the way, and the sheer square mileage of the polluted land, the going was rough, but through their continued cooperative efforts the entire region was finally completely pristine. All that was left over was a barren, dry sandy soil that didn't seem fertile enough to support crops. But they were all hopeful now; the ground-breaking ceremony filled everyone with optimism and ambition that they could make such a parched and bleak place into a new home.

Venius gave Nolus a stout pat on the back and spoke with a grin, "Well everyone, we did it. We turned a completely uninhabitable toxic polluted wasteland into a slightly less uninhabitable barren desert wasteland."

"Hey, when you put it that way it almost sounds like we have a chance!" Nolus said with a laugh.

"Well everyone, are we ready to get started building?" Cygnus called out to the rest of the family.

Cygnus's call was met with a loud cheer of approval from the gathering, and he gave an enthusiastic whoop before producing a little signal flare and lighting it, tossing it to the ground. It released a bright flash of light before spewing a nice tall column of purple smoke. The ceremonial shovel was set aside and everyone spread out and began to use their psychic power to start digging a foundation. There was no need to link minds this time; digging was simplistic enough not to require any sort of complex co-ordination and they finished it easily before the hauler arrived with their construction supplies.

They had hired a small freighter to bring in their construction supplies, and a large, rust-coated beast of a ship descended from the north. It was obviously painfully old and outdated, and not very well maintained to boot. The boxy, modular cargo containers strapped to the rust-marred hull seemed ready to break loose and tumble off at any second. The ship's engines kicked up clouds of sand and soil with a loud whoosh and the whole thing let out an exhausted groan as it settled down and came to rest. Some of the landing gear hydraulics made a few pained squeals and Nolus turned from the digging to watch, a little worried frown on his face. He wished that they hadn't cheaped out so badly on the hauling service.

A small hatch on the bottom of the craft's nose opened up and a scruffy, dirt encrusted human man appeared out of it. He was wearing a set of oily stained overalls, dirty work gloves, and an outdated set of glass sensor readouts over his right eye. He carried a clipboard with him and his eyes darted over it furtively as he walked up to them and addressed them.

"Alright fellas, I managed to pack it all into one load. By my measurements, you have about 3 tons, so take that times the distance you had me haul it, that comes to about 7,000." The grimy man said.

Nolus felt his mouth drop open. "...What?!"

"We agreed on 2,500!" Venius said, his voice low but deadly.

"Yeah, well the deal changed after I picked up one of these on the way here." The man replied, pushing a little button on the digital pad at the bottom of his clipboard.

A small slot on the top of his hauler ship opened up and a decidedly modern piece of equipment slid out; a set of glowing coils that they all instantly recognized as a psionic disruptor. That familiar nauseous feeling washed over Nolus as those coils began to emit the classic dark glow like that of a black light, and a malicious smile played over the man's face. He drew a small pistol and pointed it at Nolus and his brothers.

"So if you want your stuff and your lives, you'll kindly fork over the cash."

Venius's face reddened with suppressed fury, but he managed not to say anything as he reached for his wallet in the backpack that he wore. He pulled out all the money he had and reached over to hand it to the man, but before the transaction was complete a sudden seizure overtook the grungy human. He fell to the ground, spasming violently, and Nolus smiled when he saw what the cause was. Venius's Luxray, Luxxy herself, was standing there sparking behind the man. She had used Thunder Wave on him and paralyzed him, and now she was smiling up at the rest of them with an expression of fake innocence.

"Luxxy! That was amazing!" Venius yelled happily, his anger completely gone for the moment. He rushed over, put an arm over the electric Pokemon's mane, and stroked her. "Good girl!"

Cygnus didn't waste any time running over to scoop up the human's gun. He pointed it up at the disruptor coils on top of the ship and pumped the whole clip into it, creating a huge shower of sparks that sprayed up into the air over the ship. It was almost like some celebration of independence, or a single burst of fanfare for the founding of K'telle, and the sickening nausea caused by the field quickly faded away. It was that that caused Venius's mind to return to the matter at hand. Nolus watched as his rage quickly returned, he let go of Luxxy and walked back over to the man, psychically grabbing him by the shirt collar and lifting him up to look him in the eye.

"You're going to unlock your ship, give us all of our stuff right now, and do it free of charge, understood?!"

Still paralyzed, the man could only summon up a pathetic squeak in acknowledgement, and Venius tossed him through the air a few feet towards the ship. He tumbled through the dist, his limbs flailing with an odd wooden quality. Once he had rolled to a stop Venius reversed the paralysis and he quickly stumbled up into the cockpit. The hatch slid shut and the engines roared to life. They slowly revved up and the ship began lifting off.

"Oh no you don't you scum bag!" Venius yelled, summoning up his powers to stop him.

The ship's engines seemed to tear themselves apart as Venius did his work. He psychically disassembled the entire drive assembly on the back of the ship, metal screeching as he ripped it apart piece by piece. The roar of the engines quickly fell silent and for a split second the ailing ship seemed to hover stationary in the air before collapsing back to the earth with a stuttering crash. Metal parts scattered everywhere and the bulk of the ship's hull seemed to sag as it crumpled onto the sandy soil, and a satisfied grin played across Venius's face. Again Nolus just stood back and watched as his brother strode over to the wreck site.

Venius waved his paw at the cockpit hatch and with another shriek of ripping metal he psychically sheared it off. The human tumbled out and hit the ground, his glass readout lenses breaking and his clipboard snapping as he landed on top of it. He stared up at Venius with an expression of sheer terror.

"Uhhhh…..sorry?" He croaked.

"I'll show you sorry! I'm going to-"

Nolus jumped in at this point, interrupting Venius's words with his own. "Alright now Venius! No need to go nuts here!"

Venius scoffed and looked down at the human. "You're right. He's not worth killing. Not worth all the trouble when his friends come looking for him. Instead, we should just take all the money he has on him instead!" Venius said, a nasty grin now replacing his look of fury.

"But…you've already destroyed my livelihood!" the man cried, gesturing towards his wrecked ship and doing his best to look as pathetic as possible.

"That thing looked like it could have fallen out of the sky at any moment, as far as I'm concerned I did you a favor by putting it out of action before it could fail at a lethal altitude with you still inside! And after you pulled that….that THING on us, you're lucky I don't make you walk home across this desert naked!" Venius said, gesturing angrily towards the remains of the psionic disruptor on the top of the ruined craft.

"Venius, he's already ruined. Let's just let him go." Nolus interjected. "He'll need whatever money he has to try and start a new career without his ship."

"This man tried to rob and kill us Nolus, and you want to show him that much mercy?" Venius protested angrily.

"Look at him, he's a small timer! He probably got really lucky, scoring that disruptor and everything. It made him feel big, made him feel like he knew what he was doing. Made him think he could handle us! He's just some poor sod who tried to make it into the big times. All he needs is a wakeup call and another chance at something more respectable!" Cygnus piped in.

Venius sighed, looked down at the man, and then turned away from him. "The Orre border is a few miles north of here. Get out of here, you bum."

The human scrambled to his feet and took off northward with a wild sprint. Venius looked totally disgusted, almost as if he had been done a great injustice, and he drew a heavy sigh and stared down at his feet. At that point Nolus went over and gave him a pat on the back.

"Venius, I'm proud of you. You did the right thing." Nolus said, trying to help his brother buck up.

"Yeah yeah, I know." Venius replied sullenly, his posture and tone of voice indicating that that wasn't really a big help.

Opulous walked over to the wreckage of the ship, psychically pulled one of the cargo containers off of its hull, and brought it over, prying it open as he walked. A surprised grin washed over his face and he gestured for them to come look.

"Hey Venius, maybe this will make you feel better!" Opulous said, gesturing towards the contents of the cargo container.

Nolus leaned over along with Cygnus and Venius to take a peek inside. The container was filled with solid bars of gold, stacked neatly all the way to the top. All three of them gaped in disbelief at it, and a thought finally hit Nolus as he stared at the stash.

"Looks like our friend wasn't a small timer after all!"

A/N: So Kaira has stumbled onto Melicia's bad eating habits, and our little gang of 'Twos has suddenly come into a nice little batch of wealth to help further fund the construction of their new homes. Next chunk is going to feature a little bit of time acceleration, so we're going to see how the first few years of K'tellian life pan out! Thanks for reading and stick around, there's plenty more ahead!


	21. Part II: The Book of K'telle : Chunk 7

**The Four Mirrors**  
A Sequel to Legacies  
By MMM/AJ

**A/N**: Here we are at Chunk 7 of the Book of K'telle, and I'm not even CLOSE to being done with it yet! At the rate we're going, we might finish at around 15 or even 20 chunks! Hope you guys enjoy this one, a lot of interesting plot advancements packed into these 12 pages!

**Chapter XIII – Venius 7**

It had been a full year since the arrival of the ex-humans and Ayla was still as annoying as ever. Venius cringed when he heard the doorbell ring three times in a row; she had taken up the habit of ringing multiple times as a supposedly clever way to announce herself, and in a way Venius appreciated it. It was like an early warning of her approach, nobody else did it. He gestured to Emael to keep hauling more stuff out of the basement and walked over to answer the door and braced himself for the flood of sweetness.

"Hi Venius! Just wanted to let you know that our team finished disassembling the greenhouses and packing them up, and Team Blue has finished getting the other three houses emptied out. Opulous wanted to ask me if you guys were ready yet?" Ayla asked, her tone indicating a bit of excitement.

"No, not yet! We're still trying to get all of our stuff boxed up! Moving is a slow process, and we have to sort everything that's been lying around!" Venius replied impatiently, gesturing to the huge mounds of boxes that were piled around the living room, some half filled and others bulging severely enough that they had been duct taped closed.

"Want me to go get the others to help you now, or should I tell them to start the deconstruction without you?" Ayla asked, peeking in at the chaos.

Venius ground his teeth and stood there for a moment paralyzed with indecision. He didn't want to admit to his brothers that his home was too cluttered, and he didn't want to have to ask them all for help sorting and packing this clutter. But if they started without him, they'd have all of the deconstruction done and would be waiting on him alone before they could move to K'telle. They had been preparing for this day for months, designing modules to pack the materials into so that they could actually take apart their homes and move them to K'telle, and it would look extremely bad if he was responsible for causing such a hold up after they had all had so much time to prepare.

"You go ahead and go downstairs to help Emael box up the computer equipment in the basement Ayla, I'll go talk to the others."

"Alright, sounds like fun! Thanks Venius!" Ayla chirped happily before bounding off down the stairs, her tail swishing and hair jumping energetically.

Venius sighed and buried his face in the palm of his left hand. Normally cheerful people like her wouldn't bother him, but hers was relentless; she was always smiling even when he snapped at her and acted aloof. It almost seemed unnatural, normal people can't be that happy all the time! Nevertheless, he put up with her. She seemed to have taken to him quite strongly and spent a lot of her free time volunteering to work for him, and he appreciated her for that at least.

Venius bit down on his tongue a bit and went to go find Opulous. He immediately saw the stacks of boxes as he walked off of his porch, there were huge mountains in front of each of the other three houses. The stack in front of Opulous's house was a beautifully stacked square tower, and Venius rolled his eyes a little when he caught sight of it.

"Typical." Venius muttered to himself, almost chuckling.

"What's typical?" Cygnus said, appearing from around the corner of the big box tower.

Venius nodded upwards toward the box tower with a wry smile and Cygnus nodded.

"Yeah, leave it to Op to use a ruler and graph screen to draw out his box pile ahead of time. Yours seems to be a little small though so far!" Cygnus said, pointing to the three or four stuffed boxes sitting next to Venius's porch.

"Yeah, well that's what I came out to ask you about. I was hoping to get some help sorting the stuff in my house." Venius said, his voice suddenly getting quieter.

Cygnus raised an eyebrow. "So, you're finally willing to admit you have a clutter problem eh Venius? Normally you act as if it's a perfectly valid way of life, but now you need help!"

"This isn't easy for me Cygnus. Please, do me a favor and don't make things harder with your attitude! If you're going to be an ass about this I'll just do it alone and you guys will get to sit on your hands and wait!" Venius replied angrily.

"Ok ok, I'll help. It's just sort of shocking to hear this coming from you; I would have expected you to make us wait!" Cygnus said with a lighter tone, happy that his assessments were incorrect.

"I'll go get back to work on it now; you bring the others when they're ready." Venius said, about to teleport. "You don't have to always assume the worst about me all the time Cygnus."

"Sorry….you've just been so moody ever since the ex-humans moved in last month. Every time I or one of the others tried to remind you to hurry up and organize your stuff you snapped at us in a nasty tone."

"Yeah, it's been an… adjustment for me, both getting used to living peacefully with those ex-humans and the idea of finally leaving Purity Canyon behind. We've lived here for…..god I don't even know how long now! Ever since father died, at least. The prospect of moving has been really hard for me to face."

Cygnus nodded and reached over to give Venius a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I think I can understand that Venius. It's not going to be easy for any of us; there's a lot of history for our species here. Mewtwo made his second and final stand against Giovanni here, Tanis and his friends slept in stasis under this lake for 40 years, half of Ashley's Pokémon team are buried on the other side of the lake… this place resonates with history. Even after a year's worth of cultivation under the tending of Nolus's green thumb, K'telle is still going to seem empty and barren in comparison."

"But K'telle has something else going for it," Venius said as his mind lit up in a sudden shift of paradigms, "K'telle has that wonderful feeling of raw untapped potential about it. Every time I go there to help Nolus with a round of his 'climate engineering', I always get this feeling of excitement and energy. It's this incredible sensation that this land is going to become something incredible, that we're actually going to really build something worthwhile there." Venius said, his sour expression finally fading into a smile.

"Heh, now imagine living in that excitement constantly once we move there, and feeling it build into a sense of accomplishment as we do finally build there! I don't know if you've seen any of the blueprints that Opulous has been drawing up, but he has some truly ambitious designs in mind!" Cygnus said enthusiastically, patting Venius on the back a little harder now.

"Heh, it's going to be fun watching that forgetful klutz accidentally drop the welder while building things when his mind wanders onto some other bit of scientific thought." Venius said with a chuckle.

"See, that's the cheerful spirit we need! Now why don't I go get that klutz and you go get started! I bet with all the families working together we can get your house empty in less than an hour!

* * *

Venius felt his heart wrench a little bit as he watched his home slowly disintegrate into key components under the careful psychic control of their combined psychic powers. He was contributing to the combined effort as well, but he couldn't help it if he fell to the wayside and just let them use his energy instead of actively helping in the disassembly. He watched as the steel beams, pipes, wooden boards, and everything else all came free and floated through the air and into orderly arrangements before being packed away into a huge yellow cargo container. A large freighter had arrived while they had been busy organizing Venius's belongings, and it was sitting parked nearby with its engines off, waiting to receive cargo.

"Cygnus, I'm glad you didn't cheap out on the movers this time!" Nolus said with a laugh after the disassembly was complete.

"Hey, last time I cheaped out on the movers it paid for enough grass and brush seed to turn half of K'telle into a prairie! You wouldn't have had enough water, fertilizer or seed to even make a single square mile of grasslands if it weren't for my cheapness!" Cygnus said, chuckling and smiling.

"Next time you cheap out Cygnus, I want to buy a new holo TV that can handle triple screens!" Talas quipped, eliciting a few laughs from the gathered families.

The laughter didn't last too long though, and the large gathering of family stood awkwardly silent for a moment. Nobody really knew how to say it, but leaving Purity Canyon like this was painful. All twenty of the younger generation had lived there their entire lives, and the four brothers and three sisters had lived there long enough to grow significantly attached to it. After the place had such an incredible history for them and their species, it was heart wrenching to think that they really were leaving.

"Man….I'm really gonna miss this place." Satoria suddenly interjected, breaking the silence.

Various heads nodded silently in the gathering and Nolus chose to break the silence next. "Well we do all have an attachment to this place, but it's time we let the canyon reclaim this clearing. I know you guys don't all share my strict environmentalist point of view, but it's time to let this place go back to nature. Besides, our new home is going to be much more wide open; we'll be able to build as much as we want without tearing down trees! Imagine, we'd have enough room to build holoball domes, research labs, a recreation center, a local steel mill branch to work for Montalbo without commuting, everything!"

"We could all have our own houses!" Kaira piped in excitedly.

"That's the spirit! Everyone will eventually get their own homes, but we'll all be neighbors so nobody will get lonely!" Cygnus said, wanting to get everybody enthusiastic about the move.

"Imagine it, a whole town of our people….maybe even a city eventually!" Opulous added, thinking again of Tanis's old dreams of their species growing into a full society.

"So who's ready to get over there and get started building our new future?" Cygnus called out loudly.

The crowd gave a deafening cheer, and Cygnus gestured toward the huge cargo containers. "Alright, then let's get these crates loaded and get our asses in the air!"

With that the crowd immediately dispersed back into the four families and people began to work together to lift the thousands of pounds of cargo up into the freighter. Opulous linked minds with his family members and their coordinated their efforts silently. Cygnus called out verbal instructions and encouragement to help his group out. Nolus's family just went for it haphazardly without any kind of co-ordination or instruction, but still managed to get their cargo in just fine. Venius however, barked out orders loudly and didn't bother encouraging them, not realizing how grouchy he was getting. Naturally, Venius's family was the last to get their cargo containers loaded, and in the mean time the other three brothers took the time to walk over and scoop up a few little bits of soil from where the four houses had sat. They brought a fourth one over to Venius in a little glass bottle just as he and his troupe finished securing the last container.

"Souvenir?" Nolus asked, tapping Venius on the shoulder and offering the bottle to him. "This way you don't have to take something that would harm the environment!"

A semi-exasperated smile crossed Venius's face and he took the bottle and held it in his hands. "You know Nolus, for a tree hugger, you're not that bad."

**Chapter XIV – Emael 2**

It was a dream come true, Emael finally had his own his house. He couldn't believe it, all those months of toiling for that damned dirty human, and here he was walking through the door of his own private home! Granted it was still a little bare, he couldn't afford any furniture outside of the bedroom set from his room in the old house in Purity Canyon, but he didn't care. It may have been small, and Spartan in terms of décor, but it had the one quality that he had been seeking ever since he had been a small child: silence. Growing up his whole life with 4 siblings, a dad and an aunt in the same house had always bothered him. He had hated it; sharing the bathrooms, enduring the sloppy tendencies of his other family members, and worst of all, sleeping through all the noise at night. Sure, he had been sloppy like them too, but it always bothered him even after had had taken up the mindset of joining them since he couldn't beat them. He had looked forward to starting anew and keeping things clean for once, and as much as he loved his family, he loved this opportunity too.

Emael drew a deep breath and smiled as the front door slid closed behind him, and he took in his new living room. A single holo-TV projector and a holographic console for the computer system built into the house, and nothing else. He let that wonderful silence fill his ears and closed his eyes to savor the moment. The house still had a strong scent of freshly cut wood with a tinge of metallic taste; it was the smell of a new house. He breathed it in deeply a few more times and smiled, it was wonderful.

It was at that exact moment that Emael's new doorbell rang for the first time. He growled at the magically terrible timing of his first visitor and suppressed his grimace as he walked over to the door and flipped on the view screen on the inside of the door to see who it was. He immediately recognized Melicia's cheerful grin and he couldn't help but smile as well. He practically slapped his hand across the button to open the door and stood aside to admit her to his new home.

"Hey Melicia, welcome! You're my first visitor!" Emael said, his good cheer immediately returning.

"Well that's quite an honor!" She replied, stepping in and looking around. "Looks like you could use a little help decorating!"

"Not sure if I want your help though, I'm not a fan of the whole spilled paint and candy wrapper look!" Emael joked with a wry smile.

Melicia rolled her eyes and slugged him on the shoulder. "I told you guys that I'm off of human candy now! It's not worth the risk of flying to human cities to buy! Besides, they were starting to go to my hips!" She laughed, laying one paw on her hip. "But in all honestly, I was thinking about helping you by designing some holographic sculpture for your place! That way I wouldn't get any paint splattered all over your precious blank walls, sweetheart!" She finished with a joke of her own.

Emael chuckled and took it gracefully. "Well I know you make your living with your art, Melicia. I wouldn't be able to afford to pay you anything; every cent I earned has been sunk into this house."

"You're still working for Montalbo aren't you? You could pay me later, I wouldn't mind waiting on you, and I know you're trustworthy."

"Yeah, I guess that would work. There's just one problem, I don't know what I want! My old room back when we were in one house was kind of chaotic. I didn't really have any kind of unifying theme setup, and I still don't really know what I'm going to do, or even what I would like. I can't tell you what to make, and I'm afraid of having you do something random and then not liking what you make!" Emael warned with a frown.

"Well I think I know enough about you after helping raise you from a baby, even if you don't know yourself! I'm pretty sure I can make a suite that you could enjoy!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, a whole suite? I'm gonna be paying you for months at the rate you're talking!" Emael said with a nervous chuckle.

"Hey, you really think you're aunt is going to turn into an all consuming black hole of a loan shark? You just get me the dough whenever you can and I'll be happy, I'm more worried about getting you settled in properly! It's not going to be easy for any of us getting used to living alone!" Melicia added, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"If you're worrying about me being lonely, don't be!" Emael began with a laugh. "I've been looking forward to the solitude for a long time, and if I take your lightning fast visit within the first five minutes as a sign of what's to come, then I'm probably still never going to be able to get a moment's peace around here either!"

Melicia laughed too and gave him a firm pat on the back. "Well I suppose I should probably get started on that art for you now! Gonna have a lot to do!"

"No that's alright, of all the people to visit; you're one who I would willingly keep around and entertain for awhile! My house is your house Melicia." Emael said, backtracking and feeling guilty about how rude he thought he had been.

"Heh it's alright Emael, I understand that you want some time alone with your new place. Besides, you're not the only one I'm going to be doing artwork for! There are 20 others out there with new houses too, and I'm going to be working for most of them! I'm going to be one busy little artist for the next several months!" Melicia replied reassuringly.

"Did you get a new house too?" Emael suddenly asked, half out of curiosity and half from not wanting her to leave.

"Actually I could have, but I chose not to. I didn't like the prospect of living alone, so I chose to keep staying with Venius. He and I are good friends, and I figured there was no need to leave when we had such a good setup! Now if you don't mind, I've gotta be going. I've still got or 8 more households to visit to advertise my art!" She said, walking back to the door and hitting the glowing green circle on the console to open the door.

For all of his love for solitude, Emael suddenly felt a pang of loneliness spike through his mind. There was something about seeing his favorite Aunt leaving so soon that made him pine for company. He followed her closely and gave one more shot at keeping her around.

"Are you hungry, Mel? Maybe I could get you a bit of something, or a drink? Even just a snack for the road?"

"Nah, I ate as soon as we got Venius and I's house up. But thanks for offering, that was very thoughtful of you! See you later sweetheart!" She planted a single kiss on his cheek before turning to leave.

As Melicia turned to leave though, she didn't see it as someone else came out of a teleport right on Emael's doorstep. Halfway down the patio steps she collided with Amara Bluetail, who had apparently gotten the same idea of visiting Emael before he could settle in too.

"Whoops! Sorry Amara! I didn't sense you coming!" Melicia chirped, catching Amara's shoulder to prevent her from falling.

"It's alright Aunt Melicia; I didn't sense you on the porch either, so it was both our faults."

Melicia turned back to Venius and called out to him as she walked off, "Looks like you were right about never getting any peace here after all!"

"Oh, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your peace Emael. I'll go." Amara said, hearing Melicia's remarks and turned around to leave.

"No, no, that's alright!" Emael said hastily, bounding across the porch toward her. "I was actually just starting to think it would be nice to have someone around, and Melicia was only really job hunting to see if I wanted her to make me some art. I guess I didn't expect my new place to be so……empty."

"Tell me about it!" Amara said, turning back to him and brightening back up. "I was only really mildly excited about getting my own place, to be honest. I like to be around people a lot more than you do, and I especially have a hard time studying alone."

"Well come on in! Perhaps we can study together for awhile?" Emael offered, leading her over toward the still-open door.

"You know, I think I'd like that." Amara replied, smiling at him and swishing her tail back and forth behind herself contentedly.

* * *

"So then Eloniel told dad about how the Luxrays had pooped all over the back porch, and he got the most hilarious exasperated expression on his face! Apparently, Venius had been training them to do that to us as a prank!" Amara said with a wild fit of giggles.

"Oh yeah! I remember now! Dad was telling me about that a few months ago, and I remember telling him that I had wanted no part in it. Sometimes your Dad can be a little intimidating, the way he just stays utterly silent when any normal person would be yelling with anger!"

"You don't need to tell me about it!" Amara said with a chuckle. "He raised me, I know! Like one time when I flunked a test for the first time due to goofing off, he just stared at me quietly and then went to his room without saying anything. I swear, none of your Dad's rages has ever scared me as much as that did!"

"Just how many hours has it been since we even mentioned our history assignments anyway?" Emael suddenly asked with half a smile.

Amara glanced over at the holographic clock next to Emael's bed and drew a sharp breath in surprise. "Holy shit, we've been chattering aimlessly for three hours!"

"Ugh…. We still have most of that study guide left to do. We'd better get back to it." He replied, picking his digital pad and sighing as he scrolled through the reading. "Where were we?"

"The downfall of the Psi-Slayers following the war with Shakara's Protectorate. At least it's not a topic that's hard to get into huh?" Amara replied. "Do you want to read first or should I?"

"You go ahead. I like listening to your voice." Emael said with a smile.

Amara flushed a little from the flattery and nodded before lifting the digital pad and breaking into the readout. "The Psi-slayers had been a mostly covert operation, relying almost entirely upon political subversion and the distribution of propaganda to further their agenda. They were masterful at it too, they got members into essentially every major world government and even jump started the reconstruction of international militaries right under Shakara's nose using a new kind of cloaking technology to mask their shipyards where the new armada was being built. They siphoned and embezzled money out of all major governments to fund their new military up until the major middle-eastern conflict of 2206, at which point they made their military efforts to conscript new forces public. But they said that these fighting men and women were being gathered to help put together a middle-eastern peacekeeping force, when in fact the true purpose was to man the armada they had built to bring down Shakara's protectorate."

"Admiral Angelo Dupree was the head of the Psi-Slayers at the time, and was the one in charge of heading up this battle. He had expected the battle with the Protectorate to be a swift victory with minimal losses, thinking that the more advanced plasma weaponry on the new UN ships would easily balance out their numerical disadvantage, and that their more powerful shield tech would then further tilt the odds into their favor. What he didn't expect was the superior tactics and maneuverability of the Protectorate forces, who took most of the UN forces down with them during one of the bloodiest orbital battles since Ares's initial conquest of Earth."

"The results of the battle were grim; 99.99 percent of Protectorate Sentinels were slaughtered, 100 percent of Protectorate ships were annihilated, and 89 percent of UN ships and personnel were taken with them. The full death toll of Protectorate personnel reached 24 million, and UN losses peaked at 15 million. 17 trillion dollars worth of space faring craft and equipment were lost on the UN side, and over 22 trillion dollars on the Protectorate side. 87 percent of the Earth's combined Tritanium, Steel, and Iron resources were reduced to clouds of floating space junk. Economies began to crash, millions of families lost sons, daughters and husbands, and the last few tiny stores of fossil and nuclear fuel left on the planet were depleted."

"The ensuing political firestorms that swept across the globe were to make the French and American revolutions look like dollhouse tea parties in comparison. The universal chants of rage were aimed at the UN initially for lying about the military use of troops and resources. Riots broke out all around the globe, incurring billions more in losses to property. Massive mobs of millions of citizens filled the streets of most major world cities, calling for revenge against those responsible for wrecking the world economies and wasting the lives of loved ones. In order to avoid outright revolution, most world governments launched massive investigations into the actions of all UN leaders, including Dupree, and soon the existence of the Psi-Slayers was uncovered. The real turning point came with the discovery of Dupree's list though. In his personal computer, Dupree had a list of 95 percent of all the active members of the Psi-Slayers as well as detailed information on all of them, including which governments they had infiltrated, what departments they were in, what their duties were, and how to carry out these duties. The list also included all of Dupree's personal goals, including the destruction of the Protectorate and the extinction of the entire Mewtwo species."

"The moment this information became public, the enraged mobs called for revenge against the Psi-slayers. Millions wanted to see the vast majority of the people on Dupree's list tried for treason against the world government and executed for their crimes. Initially the world leaders wanted to simply have these people discredited and removed from power, but continued riots and acts of open rebellion by the people continued unabated until it was agreed that Dupree and most of his followers would be put to death."

Emael laughed and couldn't help but interrupt with a comment. "So those crazy apes had some sense after all. Even if they weren't doing it for us, they still knew the Psi-Slayers deserved every ounce of that poison that was injected into their veins!"

Amara's fur practically bristled from irritation when Emael made his racist 'apes' remark about humans, but she resisted the urge to call him out on it. She certainly didn't feel like getting into an argument with him after the hours of fun they had had together, and especially not in his own home. She sighed softly and kept reading.

"Over the course of several months, everyone on Dupree's list was summarily arrested, tried, and sentenced to death for their crimes. Most managed to delay their executions via the appeals process, but the world governments tilted these trials against them, fearing the public reaction should any of the Psi-Slayers be acquitted. As the months passed, the world economies slowly began to recover as burgeoning metal salvage industries began to thrive by collecting the remains of the armadas in orbit, and the Psi-Slayers that were now crowding prisons worldwide were shuffled one by one into the lethal injection chambers to be disposed of. Further economic recovery followed when a massive worldwide debt forgiving accord was signed, essentially putting every nation on Earth out of debt with each other so that global markets could be reset to start anew. Dupree himself was the last one to be executed, and in a startling move of reconciliation, the Japanese Prime Minister invited Tanis's four sons and Shakara's three daughters to bear witness to the execution of the ex-admiral who was responsible for their near downfall of their race."

Amara paused reading for the moment and stared contemplatively up at the ceiling for a moment. "We were just little kids back then, but I still remember it when my Dad came home and told us the justice had finally been done for our race."

"Yeah, I remember it pretty clearly too, though my Dad was a little less than satisfied. I remember he came home bitter, thinking it was still not enough, and was awful the whole day, growling and even yelling at us a few times." Emael said.

"Yeah, your Dad can be kinda scary sometimes. I mean, he's not terrible all the time, but he does have a bit of a temper." Amara said cautiously, trying not to offend Emael.

"Hah, now who's telling who things they already know about their dad!" Emael laughed, giving Amara a friendly telekinetic slap on the back.

Amara didn't mind the friendly gesture; she actually found it a bit heartwarming. But the force of the impact jarred one of her silver hoop earrings loose and sent it tumbling into the pile of school supplies that they had strewn out over the floor between them during their time studying. She made a dive for it, not paying attention to the fact that Emael had done the same, and in one blinding moment of pain their skulls collided, sending them both reeling backwards.

Amara made a muffled little whimper of pain and Emael released a string of profanities to put a sailor to shame. Then he quickly regained his senses and rushed over to Amara to help.

"Oh jeez, I'm sorry! That was incredibly dumb of me. Here, let me heal you." He said quickly, laying a hand on Amara's head and using his recover ability on her.

"It's ok, I'm alright." Amara began, not wanting him to be upset and blame himself.

For a few moments they were both silent, and as Amara's pain melted away shouldn't help but raise her eyes to look at Emael. As he finished psychically healing her, she lifted her own hand up to lay on his head, wanting to return the gesture. As she siphoned a little of her own psychic energy off to heal him, she inadvertently dipped into his mind psychically, linking them together for a few seconds. In the span of those few short moments, she sensed that Emael felt more than just friendship with her; he had a burgeoning crush on her! He had been keeping it secret for the last few weeks, she could sense it now. Feeling overwhelmed with embarrassment and unsure what to say, she immediately removed her hand from Emael's head and severed the link, blushing a deep purple from the red of the blush mixing with her blue skin. She quickly began gathering her stuff, wanting to teleport out as soon as possible.

"I should go." Amara said quickly, her voice shaky with nervousness.

"Wait, Amara! I was…" Emael said, just as shaken and nervous. "I….I was going to tell you."

Amara stuffed her digital pad and textbooks into her backpack and shook her head. "I need time to think, Emael. I'll talk to you later."

With that she vanished in a blink of blue light and left Emael alone in his house once more. He drew a heavy sigh and buried his face in his palm, knowing that things were probably really screwed up now. He gathered up his school things and tossed them onto his desk, then crawled up onto his bed to relax for awhile. Studying be damned, he had much more on his mind now than he could handle.

A/N: Ok, so our new generation of 'Twos continues to have romance trouble, and the construction of K'telle has passed through its initial phases quite well! But don't think our friends are going to slow down; Opulous still has some wild ambitions and quite a few new inventions up his sleeve! Stay tuned and we'll see them in action, and thanks again for reading!


	22. Part II: The Book of K'telle : Chunk 8

**The Four Mirrors**  
A Sequel to Legacies  
By MMM/AJ

**A/N**: Here's another cultist chunk for you guys, this one a whopper at 16 pages. Unfortunately though, for reasons I'm not comfortable saying, there will be no more chapters from Ayla's POV. So have some Lucas and Jeremy instead. Enjoy!

**Chapter XIII – Lucas 3**

Lucas's room wasn't really decorated that fancy, he had his old furniture from his old place and a piece of holographic art that Melicia had made him of Tanis. He was sipping a glass of juice while reading up for his history class that evening, covering the units on Tanis since that was his personal favorite part of the history of their species. He and his fellow cultists, though they really didn't think of themselves as cultists anymore, were all in the same history class that Cygnus was teaching. Ever since they had been transformed 5 years ago now, they didn't really need to call themselves cultists anymore, especially since they never had meetings anymore and seemed to be drifting apart a bit lately. Ayla spent hardly any time around them anymore, preferring to hang around Venius, and Lucas was spending most of his time studying instead of socializing. They all shared the same house together in separate rooms, except Alan and Shara who slept in a bunk bed in the same room. The other 'Twos had a fondness for calling them 'the ex-humans', but in their minds the group was pretty much well on the road to dissolution.

Lucas's nose was practically touching the screen of the digital pad he was reading from when he heard the doorbell ring. He knew that the others were out at work or in class at the moment, so Lucas reached over to set down his drink and climbed to his feet. When he got down stairs and opened the door, he was greeted by the familiar partially metallic face of Opulous.

"Hello, Opulous! I haven't seen you around in a while." Lucas said, his instincts to be more formal around the four brothers still quite strong, even after 5 years.

"Hello Lucas. Are you busy today?" Opulous asked, extending his robotic hand for a handshake.

Lucas quickly took the hand offered to him and shook it vigorously, the cold metal making a tiny wave of shivers travel up his arm. "Not at all. Can I help you out with something?"

"Actually, yes. I'm working on something in my lab down in the new building in the center of town, and it's something that requires more than one person to test. Would you care to help me with it?"

Lucas felt overjoyed; he had always felt that he needed to earn his place as a member of their race, so the chance to be useful for Opulous made his heart pound in excitement. He squeezed Opulous's metal hand a bit harder before letting go. "I'd be more than happy to help!"

"Good, good! Before we go though, I have to ask. How has your training with your powers been going?" Opulous asked curiously.

"It's been going along well...I'm starting to get the hang of it, I can float, but I can't teleport or anything just yet." Lucas replied, thinking back on his last few training sessions when he had been stacking mid-sized objects fairly well, and had used telepathy pretty clearly.

"Well I'm not experimenting with anything greater than levitation yet, so it shouldn't be a problem. Come on, let's walk over to the facility instead of teleporting, I find a quick walk is very refreshing!" Opulous said, starting to walk and gesturing to Lucas to follow.

Lucas quickly made his way out of the house and followed Opulous; he could use the physical exercise in addition to what he'd been doing with his new powers as well. It was a nice change of pace, and the weather wasn't bad either; it was a nice day for a walk. K'telle had been progressing nicely; the cluster of houses that they had built in the grasslands was clustered in a nice circular pattern around the huge building that was under construction in the center. There were neat little paved paths between and around each house and its yard, but no roads. They didn't need any, since most could fly or teleport, but the paths had been put in nonetheless, for both Lucas and his friends, and anyone whose psychic energy was totally tapped. Opulous lead them down one of the little paths towards the incomplete building, which was surrounded by a small circular park, and chattered idly.

"How has your little group been doing Lucas? I heard that Ayla has been spending more and more time with Venius!"

"Yeah, that's what I'd heard as well. She seems so cheerful all the time...I can tell it gets on his nerves somewhat though. And for me to see that, that's pretty bad -- I've never been the most observant person." Lucas replied, noting the fact that he spent most of his time studying in his room.

"You should hear Venius complaining about her, he says he can't stand how sickly sweet she is, but he also finds her stick-to-it attitude and work ethic charming too. And since she does a lot of his work for her, he's hardly about to turn her away." Opulous said with a chuckle, finding it quite ironic.

"Heh, that's definitely understandable." Lucas said quietly, looking around himself as they passed through the small park.

They approached the base of the incomplete structure, which seemed to be the base of a circular tower. It was only about three stories tall but seemed to be wide enough to support a whole skyscraper. The top seemed like a big blunt stump of a severed limb, and it was covered with a transparent tarp to keep the elements out.

"The Central Tower is coming along well, don't you think Lucas?" Opulous asked, looking up at the areas under construction.

"Wow, it sure is! How long do you think it'll take to complete?" Lucas asked, an impressed expression washing over his face as he followed Opulous's gaze.

"Probably a couple more months. At the rate of Tritanium production we've been making in our new Montalbo processing plant, we'd normally have enough to triple the size of this town in a week if we weren't so busy with this tower!" He replied, leading Lucas towards one of the smaller service doors at the base.

"Wow, this place is going to be huge before long!" Lucas said in awe, turning his attention to the door that Opulous was opening.

Op waved his robotic hand in front of a scanner and used his own digital ID signature to gain access. The door slid open quietly and admitted them both, and Op led him down a series of spiral stairs into the basement levels. The corridors were pretty bare; unmarked and unpolished steel walls with trails of lights in the floor that pointed out different routes.

"We're going to be working on one of my more exciting new ideas today Lucas. Out of curiosity, have you ever heard of electrical or heat induction devices?" Opulous asked as he led Lucas deeper and deeper, brushing past one of Cygnus's sons as they went.

Lucas simply shook his head in reply, he never really stayed current with technological advancements, though the idea of getting caught back up with it did feel exciting.

"Well inductors are normally pretty simple; certain types of energy are projected through the air invisibly into a target material or area, in which they take effect. Heat inductors can make a pot of water on a stove boil without actually making the surface of the stove heat up. What we'll be working with is a little similar." Opulous said excitedly, his expression lighting up as he got onto the topic of his experiments.

"Well, I'll help any way I can. What do you need me to do?" Lucas asked.

"Come on over to the far side of my lab and I'll show you!" Opulous said, and finally led them down to a larger steel door with inlaid glowing blue light strips along it, and a sign that said "Do not open if lights are red."

Op pressed his organic palm against the scanner on the right side and the doors swished open to reveal a spacious lab. The room was hexagonal shaped with a massive computer core in the center, huge tangles of wires and glowing lights shining from this massive technological heart of the new tower. There were various scattered workbenches around the rest of the room, covered with various pieces of hardware in differing states of disassembly. Despite the appearance of chaos however, it was still somewhat organized. Each bench was allocated to a different project, and there were dozens of benches around the edges of the room. The light seemed a little dim for a lab, and a low electrical hum and a very slight taste of ozone filled the air.

Lucas gawked at the various projects that Opulous was working on, still making his way to the other end of the room, but still in the state of taking it all in, trying to figure out what any of the projects were for. Some seemed very very delicate, workshops for controlling microscopic tools to build nanochips, while others were huge and bulky. Field projector coils as big as Lucas's torso lying on one desk and hooked up to a rat's nest of cables. He led them over to a larger table which had a few smaller coils hooked up to exposed circuitry, these coils about as long and thick as his arm.

"Lucas, let me introduce you to the Triton I Psionic Inductor." Opulous said proudly, pointing to the disorganized pile of field coils.

"Ahhh...so this would transmit Psionic energy through the air!" Lucas said, connecting the dots in his mind based on their previous conversation.

"That's correct! This model is specifically designed to interpret, amplify, and extend telepathic thought. I'd like to test it out with you by using it to telepathically communicate between us using much less energy than telepathy normally would!" Opulous said, a little smile of pride creeping onto the corners of his mouth as he laid one hand on the nearest coil.

"Okay, sure!" Lucas said, a smile of excitement forming on his face too. He could tell the implications of this were going to be huge, and Opulous had really hit on something to be proud of.

"The best part of this is that I managed to work in Tanis's old machine mind reading ability. I was the only one he managed to teach this ability to, and I imprinted the ability right into the inductor so it can seamlessly encode and decode psychic thought into data in order to boost the signal and extend the range of telepathy significantly at no cost to us. It uses its own electricity source of course, but it's especially useful since it allows telepathy even to those whose psychic energy is totally tapped!"

"That's just...wow..." Lucas whispered, words failing him. Mewtwos being able to send psychic thought over such long ranges could have so many applications; this was just amazing that something like this could even exist. He felt a twinge when Opulous had mentioned Tanis, though he did his best to hide it.

"There's just one downside to this whole thing. You see these coils, they look pretty generic right, like simple interwoven helixes of metal right?" Opulous said, gesturing to one of the coils with a serious look.

Lucas nodded quietly in reply, then spoke, "...what's the catch?"

Opulous suddenly shined a more focused light on the coils, and they seemed to have a reflective glimmer about them as if they had glitter inside them. "Each individual coil is made of ultra-dense Carbon-Tritanium superconductive nano-fibers. One of these independent inch thick strands takes about two weeks to properly synthesize and takes about $8,000 US to manufacture. A single inductor Unit takes five coiled strands."

"Whoa. These things would cost an absolute fortune to produce in any viable quantity, then."

"Exactly. But thankfully, we don't need to mass produce them. It only takes one of these units to extend the radius of our telepathy ten miles wider than our maximum! To cover all of K'telle would only take about 50." Opulous said with a hint of optimism.

"But that's still an insane amount of money and time...a couple million dollars and about two years." Lucas said, doing a few rough calculations in his head.

"Yes, but not totally infeasible! We are building a massive skyscraper and expanding our town after all. Given the completion of the tower, we could focus our resources more on it and give it a few years. Imagine how wonderful it would be if we could have a universal telepathic network all across out entire land requiring no psychic energy to access and use! It'd revolutionize psionics as we know it!" He said proudly, that little smile returning.

"It would be amazing! To have any one of us be able to contact any other without one iota of our power being used..." Lucas said, picturing it in his mind.

"Ever since that first inter-house meeting to decide K'telle's name when we all linked our minds together, I've had the inspiration for this. Before you and the other ex-humans had been around, I had linked all of our minds together, and for the time I felt this incredible unity of all of our thoughts and emotions together. Ever since, I knew I wanted to help make that much easier to accomplish, and a network of inductors like this would make it so easy that our people could theoretically stay interconnected indefinitely!" Opulous said, his voice getting a bit grandiose as he went like an orator with a dream.

"This sounds great -- if we're the only ones using it. How would we make sure that those who _aren't_ supposed to be meddling with it don't get in? ...also, if everyone can feel every thought everyone else is having, wouldn't that result in things getting out into the open that others might want to keep hidden?"

"Definitely good points. First of all, I'm going to install filters in the system that will hopefully be able to block out all non-Mewtwos, and secondly it would be pretty easy to detect an outsider since they would be pretty unfamiliar with the network and their thoughts would be strange. And as for the emotions and private thoughts, well people can choose what thoughts to transmit and what not to, and connect and disconnect whenever they want, linking isn't mandatory." Opulous said with a sagely nod.

"Ahhh, okay. So the 'twos wouldn't all be connected 24/7. That avoids a 'big brother' type of society." Lucas said with a little relief.

"And a bit emotionally overwhelming too!" He added with a chortle. "I'm still pretty far away from such a network though, I've only built five of these inductor units using my own personal funds, and there's still the big glaring problem with how disorganized and chaotic such a network would be. Everyone's thoughts whizzing around without any kind of unified system would be insane to say the least, and I'm still going through dozens of different plans a day on how to organize the system. But for now, I need to see how well my inductors work, and that's where you come in!" Opulous said, finally getting onto the subject of the experiment.

"All right then. What do you need me to do?"

"Simple. We're going to try telepathically communicating while the inductor is on, and it should automatically detect our link as it forms and amplify it for us." Opulous said, then bent over the bench and began typing on a holographic console that was hard wired to one of the coils.

"Sure thing, just tell me when to start." Lucas offered, watching Op do his work.

Op fiddled with those controls a bit longer and then one of those five coil assemblies emitted a deep, stomach jarring electrical hum that would make the whole room shudder a little bit. Then those five interwoven coils of expensive nano-material began to light up, glowing a soft iridescent purple. The light that Opulous had on over the desk dimmed a little and he reached over and flicked it off to get more power to the coils. After a few more seconds the rumbling hum evened out into a less intense underlying buzz, and a series of green lights lit up on the holographic control panel to indicate all systems were ready.

"Alright Lucas, we're ready! Just try linking your mind with mine now and let's see what happens!" Opulous said excitedly, looking into Lucas's eyes.

Lucas nodded, reaching out with his powers to try and connect with Opulous's mind as he'd learned from what practice he'd had with his abilities. As he did so he felt a hint of Opulous's excitement over the link, it was much more intense and intoxicating than his expression and demeanor had let on! Being linked to him like this much longer would prove almost intoxicating with Opulous's excitement and happiness, and after a few moments Op sensed that the inductor was working right and taking the energy load, so he severed the link and pumped his robotic arm in the air victoriously.

"Eureka! It works!"

"Sweet! The first of many steps I'm sure, but it's a big one!" Lucas said, feeling Op's excitement still flowing through his mind.

Opulous gave a full grin this time, his emotion playing all the way over his face for once, and he nodded to Lucas as an idea hit him. "Lucas, I have another test in mind. I'd like to teleport you about ten miles away with my own energy and I want you to try and telepathically link with me again. If it's working at full capacity, you'll be able to link with me just as easily as you did now with me standing next to you!"

"All right...I'll give it a shot!" Lucas said eagerly, feeling swept up in the rush of scientific achievement.

Lucas felt Opulous's energy swirl around him as he teleported him, and a few moments later he was deposited in the middle of an open grassy field somewhere in outer K'telle away from the town. A warm breeze blew over him and the sun shined cheerfully above him. Lucas waited for the inductor to kick in, trying to feel that mental link with Opulous that he'd experienced before, and knowing there was no chance in hell of him doing it normally. It took a moment, but soon he felt Op's presence just as strong as before, lingering as if on the air around him, inviting the link, and as soon as he linked up he heard Op calling out to him.

"Are you reading me, Lucas?"

"Loud and clear, Op! It's like you're right next to me!" Lucas replied, still in awe of how well it was working.

"I'm not feeling any drain from the long distance link, are you?" Opulous asked tentatively, hoping that it wasn't imbalanced in favor of the person closest to the inductor.

"Nope, none whatsoever, even this far away!"

"Yes!" Opulous replied enthusiastically, his excitement over the link getting intense again. He then terminated the link himself and teleported Lucas back, and in a swirl of blue Lucas was back in the lab.

"My inductor is a complete success Lucas! The computer flawlessly detected our link, interconnected with it, decoded it, amplified it, re-encoded it, and transmitted it without a single error!" Opulous said, then raised his fists in the air and made a satisfied whoop.

This was the first time Lucas had ever seen Opulous expressing so much emotion, most of the time he was so calm and collected all of the time that it was almost surreal to see him whoop like that. But he could understand the enthusiasm, since even though he had only been the guinea pig; Lucas had a sense of pride in being involved with Opulous's inventions.

"Thanks Lucas, I couldn't have tested it properly without your help!" Opulous said, turning to offer him another handshake.

"Don't be afraid to let me know if you need help testing other things, or even working on them!" Lucas offered, taking and shaking Op's hand eagerly.

"Well, I could always use another pair of hands to help me around the lab. If you're that eager, how'd you like to try being my assistant for awhile?" Opulous asked, thinking about how wonderful it would be to have company down there helping him.

"I'd...I'd be honored!" Lucas stammered, his mind temporarily blown for a few seconds at the prospect of fulfilling such an important role.

"Granted I know you're no nano-technician or electrician, but maybe you could learn some practical lab skills and even a little of the science I'm using." Opulous said with a very slight grin. "I could teach you how to properly maintain and operate everything in here."

"I'd really like the chance to learn." Lucas said, making it quite clear that he was eager to do anything to help.

"Well then come on Lucas, let me give you the grand tour!" Opulous said excitedly, laying his cold steel hand on Lucas's shoulder.

Opulous led Lucas right to the center of the room where that gigantic looking computer core was sitting. It was massive, almost as wide as an elephant and going all 8 feet up the ceiling. It looked incomplete though, there were large holes where it seemed there were components missing, and a good amount of the cables were unhooked or tied in ugly snarls of knots.

"This is the main computer we're designing for the tower. It's not exactly complete, but we've been making decent progress!" Opulous said, opening his arms and gesturing widely at the computer.

"Sure looks like it! I remember stories of the first computers, and how they filled entire rooms...and then 50 years later, they're something you can lug under your shoulder. Somehow I'm guessing we just might end up the same way with this stuff!"

"Heh well, what we're looking at here is still too large for even a starship lower that corvette class, so I doubt we'll be carrying anything like this under our arms! This thing is eventually going to handle the functions of the entire tower, and this tower is going to make most of the world's skyscrapers look like little sand castles!" Opulous boasted, smiling widely again. "Like the tower itself though, it's not even close to finish. The components for this thing that we still need to buy will cost more than all those Triton Inductors combined! It'll be months before it's online. I've been working on it for months already too, that's why it looks so good already!"

Lucas remained silent for the moment, he didn't think it was his place to ask about the money any further than he'd been told already...it sounded like a damn daunting task, but he'd try to help out however he could. Opulous smiled and led him around the lab after that, showing off his various projects in turn to help familiarize Lucas with everything that was in progress. He explained them all as he went, and it took almost an hour before he finally got to the last table. A bunch of large chemical processing containers were sitting around the table along with several compressor units. There were a few empty cannon shells on the table hooked up to the processor units.

"And this is where Venius and I have been working on weapons research for possibly defending ourselves against a hypothetical attack by humans." Opulous said, gesturing to the cannon shells on the table.

"I'd say that's a likely situation...so how are these supposed to work when they're finished?"

"Well it's mostly theoretical at this point. You've heard of the charged particle cannons right, they fire beams of superheated ions at a target, but they require a long charging period and produce a lot of excess heat? Well Venius and I are designing an alternative delivery system. We're designing a hybrid particle gun and rail gun." Opulous explained, trying to simplify it for him.

"Admittedly, that's way over my head, but I'm sure with enough time I'll figure this stuff out. Though...might I ask why this version's better?" Lucas asked curiously.

"Well, we're attempting to compress charged particles into a single physical round that can be fired like a slug in a magnetic accelerator. That way, instead of gathering a charge for 40-70 seconds and releasing a huge cloud of waste heat on the weapon, it can simply load a shell into the barrel and fire it nearly instantaneously. Here, let me show you a diagram!" Opulous began, tapping the holographic console on the left side of the table. Lucas leaned over his shoulder and watched.

"The main components are pretty simple. As you can see here, the three basic components are the steel outer casing, the negatively charged mantle of compressed negative ions, and a core of positively charged ions. The idea is that the round can be shot out of a rail gun, and on impact the casing breaks off. The mantle of negative ions, once exposed, will melt and cut right through whatever armor plating is on the target, burning through it like butter and consuming the mantle as it goes. Now you know that like charges repel right? Well, without the negative mantle to balance it out, the positive core suddenly has nothing to hold it together and all the particles violently explode!"

"So instead of the overheating happening on this end, it happens on _their_ end..." Lucas said, a little grin creeping over his face.

"Exactly! It blasts through armor as if it weren't even there, then once it penetrates deep enough it explodes in a massive plume of corrosive particles and extreme heat!" Opulous said with a similar smile.

"There has to be a catch. If doing this stuff was this easy, the humans would have been using stuff like this on you guys long ago..." Lucas said, eying all that intense equipment suspiciously.

"Well yeah. You see these big chemical compressors and processors?" He said, laying his paw on one, it's practically chest high and as wide as a water heater. "It takes five of them, working for two weeks, to make one shell." Opulous said, suddenly looking slightly crestfallen.

"That would definitely explain why there's not a huge batch of ammo waiting to roast those who are trying to mess with you guys. With it taking that long, are these even viable?"

"Well, in a large scale war scenario no, but in a few short bursts, it should be able to buy us enough time to flee in case of an attack, crippling an initial attack force so we can fly off. And the longer the humans go without attacking us, the more we can make. But honestly, I don't see us needing to use them anytime soon. If you'll be a little discreet for me Lucas....I think my brother is just a tiny bit paranoid." Opulous said, referring to Venius.

"Will do. I understand the need for defense, but it shouldn't be the sole focus of the efforts."

"Exactly. We're researching and building weapons, but as of now it's less than 10% of our budget. Our main focus is construction! Now what do you think, you like my lab?" Opulous asked, turning to face Lucas now with a smile like a parent bragging about their child.

"It's incredible! It's amazing how far everything has come in such a short period of time!" Lucas raved; totally impressed by everything he had been shown.

"So does that mean you're up for the task of being my lab assistant then?" Opulous asked excitedly.

"Absolutely! Whatever you need me to do; I'll do it or learn how!"

"Then you're in!" Opulous said, extending her hand for one last handshake.

Lucas smiled and shook that hand, finally feeling overwhelmed with something than shyness, and his grip was much firmer and more confident than ever before.

**Chapter IXX – Jeremy 3**

Jeremy didn't really realize it, but ever since he had become a Mewtwo he had been living on the straight and narrow much more than ever before. All of his old tattoos had vanished when the nanites transformed him; he no longer had hair to put into a Mohawk, and hell if he was ever going to touch Nu again! It wasn't like he was going to find a tattoo artist or a Nu dealer here in Teyn, but that didn't change the fact that these things were the last things on Jeremy's mind. He was too busy on his unofficial quest for self improvement to even both with any of it, studying like a madman and working full time.

Jeremy was amazed at how intelligent the four brothers were. Each one had taught himself more in his 43 years of life than most human geniuses learned in their lifetimes! Jeremy himself had never been one to get preoccupied with books and learning, especially since his family had always been rich enough that he never needed to. But ever since his transformation, Jeremy had felt a new thirst for knowledge awakening in him that was ravenous and unquenchable. He saw the knowledge that each of the four brothers held and knew that this was an unfathomably valuable opportunity to learn. So Jeremy did what all of that generation of Mewtwos had done, he enrolled in all the various college level classes that the four brothers taught and learned at a furious pace. Not wanting to feel like a leech either, he paid for these classes by working at least 40 hours a week doing psychic construction on Teyn's ever-growing Central Tower.

Of course after five years of intensive training, Jeremy and his fellows were doing relatively well developing their psychic powers, but so far Ayla was the only one to have perfected hers. Her years of living with and training Psychic Pokemon gave her a unique perspective on how it all worked that the rest of them had to work to achieve. Jeremy and the rest were still doing well enough though, except for Rose. But Rose, poor ol' Rose. Jeremy really pitied her. All her years of frying her brain as a Nu junkie had scarred her mind so badly that even after her transformation she never really was all there. She was still learning to use her powers to do simple things like stack stones while the rest of them had just started using their telekinesis for the most complex tasks like manipulating micro-circuitry, or teleporting and opening portals.

Jeremy was still only in the introductory bits of such lessons though, which was why he still handled the simpler and heavier tasks at his psychic construction job. He lifted heavy beams and pieces of equipment up to the top floor of the tower and held segments of walls, floors, etc. in place while co-workers ran wiring, plumbing and other important elements through it and seamlessly fused it in place. It wasn't glorious or even interesting work by any means, but he enjoyed helping his benefactors out and always was eager to link his mind up to the others. Cygnus usually coordinated teams of workers in shifts using psychic networks like Opulous, and feeling the thoughts and emotions of other Mewtwos touching his mind for several hours at a time always kept things from getting boring.

Today was just like any other day for Jeremy; he went to six classes in the morning then pulled a six hour shift at his construction job afterwards. He had no idea of the eventful evening that was ahead of him. The day's work had started with Cygnus putting up a skeleton-esque frame of girders for the newest four floors of the tower, and Jeremy was in charge of psychically lifting the massive beams all the way up from ground level to the work area three stories up. Cranes for heavy lifting were a thing of the past thanks to psychic labor! A Montalbo Heavy Freighter was hauling in the materials periodically over the course of the evening from the Montalbo plant on the other side of the town, and Jeremy handled the unloading every time it arrived.

Jeremy was enjoying trading thoughts and memories with his coworkers while unloading supplies for tomorrow when the call came down from Cygnus at 8PM that their shift was over. Jeremy sighed as the link was broken for the day and waved back at the 'Twos he had been talking with on the top floor as they flew off for home. Most of the rest did the same, but Jeremy's friend Alan from the old cult flew down to chat with him. He was still stacking the girders in a neat, out-of-the-way pile when Alan landed.

"Hey Jeremy! Are you going to be at the big party tonight?" Alan asked excitedly, lending Jeremy a telekinetic hand.

"Party? What party?"

"You lovable egg-head! Don't you get out enough to hear about news as big as this? Nolus is finally removing Kaira's disruptor collar tonight, and she's hosting a big party to celebrate! The only people not invited are Aturiel and his girlfriend!" Alan said, giving Jeremy a light playful slug on the arm.

"Well hot damn, I'd say that's as good a reason as any to throw a party! I'll be there, and I'll bring a data chip with all my old DJ Tanis recordings on it. I may have a physics exam with Opulous this Saturday, but I haven't treated myself to anything fun like this in a long while so it can't hurt to take a quick break from studying!" Jeremy said, setting down the last girder and wiping off his hands in relief as a symbolic gesture since he never had actually dirtied them.

Alan was about to give Jeremy a few encouraging words when he caught sight of Cygnus flying down to join them. He gave a friendly wave and called out "Hey Cygnus!"

"Hey Alan! Jeremy! You guys gonna be at the party tonight?" Cygnus asked with a smile as he landed next to them, sounding more like one of the guys than a dignified history professor.

"Are your brothers going to be there, Cygnus?" Alan asked with a hint of nervousness as he thought about Venius.

"Well obviously Nolus and I will be there, and I harassed Opulous into agreeing to come, but we're still not sure about Venius. You guys know how he can be sometimes." Cygnus replied.

"Oh yeah, definitely. When do the festivities start?" Jeremy asked, deftly pulling a topic switcheroo.

"In about half an hour. I'll meet you guys there though, right now I have to go catch up on a little more grading for my classes and-" Cygnus tried to say before getting cutoff by Venius's voice.

"CYGNUS!" Venius bellowed loudly, appearing quite suddenly out of a teleport just outside the fence surrounding the construction site and rushing in. "Take a look at this!"

Venius skidded to a halt in front of the three of them, tottered a little bit from his momentum, and held his hands open, cupping a large purple gem that sparkled stunningly under the lights of the construction site.

"It's back!" Cygnus stammered, looking down at the Amethyst in his brother's hands.

"Nolus found it this evening when he went to Grandfather's grave!" Venius said, offering it to Cygnus.

In that moment Jeremy's heard rate must have at least doubled. Right there, just a few feet in front of him, was the one thing that could get him and his companions turned back human and thrown out. He knew that they had wiped the Amethyst clean of any psychic traces with his old Mightyena's Dark Pulse, but he still had to suppress a sudden massive spike of nervousness.

"Did you have Opulous scan it yet?" Cygnus asked in earnest.

"Yeah, he looked over it with his eye and said that apparently whoever returned it did so only a week or two after we found it had been stolen! We just never went back to check afterwards due to the sadness of the loss." Venius said with a hint of exasperation.

"So he didn't find out who took it?" Cygnus asked, and Jeremy held his breath.

"Sadly no, whoever did it covered his or her tracks with Dark type energy again. They even wiped their fingerprints off of it, and the elements have long since washed off any biological traces like dead skin cells or hairs." Venius said with a small frown. "Opulous gave it the works and came up with nothing. He said that it had been there so long that the traces probably would have been long gone naturally by now anyway."

"Oh well, in the end what matters is that we have it back! This is a huge boon to our people as a whole, especially since it can help us refill all the gaps that had formed in the history of our grandfather!" Cygnus said with a huge smile.

"Heh, so says our local history professor!" Venius said with a laugh, clapping Cygnus on the back. "Come on bro, let's go spread the word!"

Cygnus nodded and turned to Alan and Jeremy. "You guys go ahead and head home to get ready, I'll see you at the party ok?"

Jeremy felt a huge lump forming in his throat as he led his group up to the door of Kaira's house. Alan, Shara, and Lucas were following, but Ayla wasn't with them. It seemed she couldn't be bothered to show up for anything anymore, or even interact with their group much at all. He swallowed a few times as the door automatically swished open for them and the huge throng of partying Mewtwos came into view. There was some generic techno music plating and a table covered with various fruits, berries, and drinks on the far side of the living room.

"Hey guys, come on in! You're just in time to see the removal of the collar!" Nolus called out to them over the music.

Jeremy smiled happily despite his nervousness and began walking inside. He saw that Alan had frozen up in nervousness and laughed, finding it very ironic that party boy had locked up over it. He grabbed Alan's hand and pulled him in, and nodded and waved politely as the various 'Twos greeted them. Lucas almost bowed a couple times through sheer respect, and Kaira, who had just came downstairs to the party, chuckled and patted him on the back in a friendly manner.

"Good to have you guys here with us!" she said with a smile at Lucas and his group. "I don't get to see you very often"

"We've been pretty damned busy, as usual," Alan chimed in, "What with out jobs and studies taking up most of our time."

"Well if you guys do ever find free time don't hesitate to come over to my place and say hello whenever you want, I always enjoy company!" Kaira said with a smile, then nodded to them and walked over to where Nolus was standing by the food table.

"Wow, she's so cheerful, it's almost like she's a whole new person!" Shara commented quietly, and they all nodded in agreement.

"Well, I'd be cheerful too if I was having a party thrown in my honor like this, let alone getting my powers back after such a long time without them." Jeremy noted, leading them over to an unoccupied corner.

The music slowly faded away to silence and Nolus smiled and called out to everyone psychically for silence. The room went totally quiet in less than a second, which made Jeremy's stomach flutter a little bit more as his nerves twitched. He was still feeling at unease over the Amethyst, and sometimes the odd inhuman quirks of the Mewtwos still surprised him even after living with them for so many years.

"Alright everyone, there's still 5 minutes left until Kaira's sentence is technically finished, but I say to hell with that, let's get this damned thing off right now!" Nolus called out enthusiastically, and the jam-packed crowd of partygoers whooped loudly in approval.

"Let's do this!" Kaira added with an ecstatic smile, and turned her back to her father and leaned back towards him so he'd have easy access to the collar on her second neck.

Mixed chants and calls of excitement rose from the throng, and soon the infectious spirit of revelry found its way to Jeremy and made him yell out loudly as well. Alan, Shara, and Lucas soon followed along, and the calls only increased as Nolus formed a small energy blade in one hand and began to cut through the collar. The blade itself was a little smaller than a surgical scalpel, and it sliced through the metal and made it sizzle and crack. She security device suddenly beeped loudly and made Nolus and Kaira twitch, but the sound only excited the crowd even more. With a few more deft strokes of the blade, Nolus sliced the wretched little device up entirely and cut its alarm short. It tumbled down into a metal bin that Cygnus had grabbed and stuck under them, and Kaira raised her arms in joy. The very first thing she did with her newly returned powers was twirl around and cast a violent pyrokinesis at the device in the bin, summoning up a whoosh of hungry purple flames that roared from the bin and consumed the collar entirely.

With that, the music began playing again suddenly, breaking right into a furious pace that Jeremy immediately recognized. That was one of DJ Tanis's songs! He immediately began tapping his foot, and the crowd began to dance as best as they could in the confined space of Kaira's living room. It didn't take long for Jeremy to give into his impulses and dance along with them, this had been one of the very first DJ Tanis songs he had ever heard and it was still his favorite, it was named "Electronic Warfare."

Eventually Alan and Shara even got into the festivities, though Lucas shyly still stayed back and remained a wallflower. Jeremy didn't noticed though, he was too busy having fun. He even thought he saw one of the female Mewtwos wink at him in the crowd and he felt his heart skip a beat.

"Hey everyone!" Venius's psychic voice called out suddenly, drowning out the music easily. "I've got good news for you, and it's not about the Amethyst!"

The dancing skidded to a halt and the 'Twos all looked upwards in curiosity following his voice. "Aturiel and Jeselle just told me that they proposed to each other tonight! They're going to be married!"

"Wh-whoa…." Nolus stammered, being the only person to say anything in reply.

Jeremy couldn't help but turn and look at Kaira, who had been grabbing a drink at the table when the news arrived. He was terrified about what her reaction to this news was going to be. He still vividly remembers the psionic storm she had summoned that day when Aturiel had dumped her. She was eerily blank though, no emotion was showing on her face, and she had frozen in place holding her cup of juice. Soon more and more had turned to watch her, and the music died down again, leaving them in a deathly quiet.

"Kaira? Are you alright?" Nolus asked carefully, pushing his way through the crowd towards her. Kaira neither moved nor responded, and now all eyes were upon her. "Kaira? Sweetie?" Nolus asked again.

Kaira crushed the paper cup filled with berry juice in her hand, and the deep purple juice streamed down her hand and arm, soaking into the carpet and running down her elbow through her fur. She closed her eyes, visibly gritted her teeth, then hurled the crumpled paper cup against the wall and stomped out of the room, up the stairs, and out of sight. She never once said a word.

A/N: Hey guys, here's a bit of a plot twist for you! Just when Kaira is getting back on her feet emotionally, life throws her a curveball even nastier than before. Depressing yes, but I of all people know that sometimes life loves to kick you down just when you think you're recovered.

Don't worry though, fair readers. I have one more chunk of plot about the marriage after this, then we'll be really kicking into high gear with the big development of their society! See you guys and gals then!


	23. Part II: The Book of K'telle : Chunk 9

**The Four Mirrors**  
A Sequel to Legacies  
By MMM/AJ

**Chapter XX – Cygnus 8**

Cygnus thudded down the stairs to the tower's basement, mumbling something less than pleasant under his breath and looking at the digital projector pad displaying the new blueprints that Opulous had sent him. The pad itself almost resembled an old palm pilot from an outdated age of technology, but instead of having a built-in physical screen it had a little glass lens to project a 3D holo-screen above it. The newly updated blueprints of the tower were shimmering in a ghostly electric azure on that screen, and areas where Opulous had made changes to the design were highlighted in vivid red. One of these changes had confused Cygnus to no end, and that was the reason why he was going down there to see the geek in his natural habitat. He had tried to psychically ask Op about it earlier, but those damn telepathy blockers he had installed and kept on were making it impossible. He always said that it was to prevent interruptions from making him mess up while handling delicate equipment, but Cygnus always suspected that he had put them in to avoid socializing too.

Cygnus tapped the power button on the digital pad, making the transparent image fade away to nothingness, and grunted in frustration when he saw the digital lights glowing red on the door to Opulous's lab. The "Do not open if lights are red." sign seemed especially insistent and unfriendly now that he was waiting on Op's help to get back to work building the tower today. Thankfully Op had at least installed a call button on the wall next to the door, which Cygnus pressed impatiently. Two agonizingly slow minutes crept by with no response and Cygnus grumbled and tapped it again. Another two minutes passed and he tapped it a third time. The dimly lit metal passageway was starting to feel a little bit claustrophobic to Cygnus, who took a deep breath and tapped his foot. He was just starting to reach for the button a fourth time when the red lights on the door flickered to blue and the lock buzzed and clicked open. The two foot thick steel door whined as it swung open on its huge hinges, revealing Opulous standing there with a slightly curious expression on his face.

"Oh, Cygnus! I wasn't expecting you to come down here today! What can I help you with?" He asked, opening the door the rest of the way and gesturing to Cygnus to come inside.

"You can help me with this." Cygnus said, waving the digital pad at Op and frowning. "You sent me these new blueprints this morning and I've been trying to psychically contact you all morning to ask what the hell a Triton I inductor is! I think you forgot to include an explanation of these parts into your files!"

"Goodness, I'm sorry Cygnus! I must have spaced out the inclusion of the Triton I detail schematics and estimated completion schedule! Here, come inside and I'll do one better for you, I'll show you one of my units myself!" Opulous said with an ashamed look.

Op led Cygnus across the room towards a single experiment table where he saw that the ex-human named Lucas was craning over a nanoscopic viewer unit, his eyes hidden by the big goofy looking rubber eyepiece that blocked out all outside light so the viewer could see the incredibly tiny components viewed within. Lucas was learning how to use the scope as the first step towards using nano-manipulator tools, and Opulous gentle whistled to Lucas to signal that they had guests.

"Good morning Cygnus!" Lucas said politely, making a tiny, almost stifled little bow of respect to Cygnus.

"Hey Lucas, I didn't know you were working for Op!" Cygnus said, still being friendly despite his slightly rushed and irritable mood. "I heard you and Op have something to show me?"

Opulous smiled, something that made Cygnus quirk an eyebrow curiously, and before the impatient 'Two knew what he had just walked into, Op broke into an excited description of the piece of wonderful new technology he had crafted. Cygnus ended up in for the works, Op ended up expounding every virtue and flaw of his Triton I, occasionally bringing Lucas in for supporting opinions every once in awhile, before finally getting to the important part.

"I have incorporated the construction of these units into our Central Tower budget, and I already have five of them ready here for you to install in the heart of the new Sanctum on the other side of the tower's base that you and Nolus have been working on. We will only need to build five more beyond that to include into the tower, and at the rate of production I have reached with Lucas's help we should be able to finish them in seven weeks instead of ten!" He said proudly.

"Seven weeks should be more than enough time Op, we haven't even gotten close to half done with the tower yet, and it'll be maybe a year or more before we get to the top where the last 5 will be needed. I just needed to know now since your plans retroactively put inductors into places we've already finished constructing. I'll be gathering up my construction team in around 20 minutes and it won't do very well for me to be directing our little psychic network without all the knowledge about what's going on!" Cygnus said with a chuckle.

Opulous was suddenly stricken with a bizarre look, his eyes widened and the little sensors above his eye blinked a colorful blue. He then looked right up into Cygnus's eyes in an unnerving manner, his cybernetic eye glowing a little brighter and focusing on him. It made Cygnus feel oddly uncomfortable, like his brother was looking into his soul and was examining all his inner secrets.

"Directing your little psychic network…Cygnus you're a genius!" Opulous shouted, breaking his gaze and immediately turned to his work bench and brought up a few larger holographic control panels.

Cygnus gave Lucas a confused look, and the ex-human returned it along with a shrug of his shoulders. Neither of them knew what Opulous was going on about, but they were both familiar enough with Opulous to know that it was probably some sort of scientific idea.

"Recently Cygnus, Lucas and I have been grappling with a newly discovered drawback of my Tritons, they are only amplifiers and interpreters. They cannot handle organizing and computing any thoughts without help from actual computers, and there are no computers even today that can handle more than 3 simultaneous thought processes. Even my huge computer core here, when finished, could probably only handle about 15-20 of our minds linked to it at once before the processor would melt. Sentient thought is indescribably complex, and trying to thread it into multi-cored processor units can only do so much before the machine hits its limits." Opulous said, typing at an astonishing speed on the holographic panel. "But what if…what if we could substitute the computer with a living mind?"

"Hmmm, what you're suggesting is sounding an awful lot like classic mad scientist territory there Op." Cygnus said with a frown. "It's morally questionable and definitely not too easy to achieve through any acceptable means."

"Well, to clarify, it's not like I'm talking about cutting out peoples' brains and putting them in jars! What I imagined was someone perhaps volunteering to link his or her mind into our system and letting us use their brain as a temporary computing unit. They could disconnect when they wanted and no harm would be done to them. Theoretically, with a little adjustment to the initial mental strain of such a task, their brains would expand considerably and they would be improved by the experience! If anything, that situation would be morally favorable since the volunteers would be bettered by the experience and would be serving a valuable purpose to our people!" Opulous said, then finally turned away from the table with a smile. "I've already designed an experiment to test this theory out!"

Cygnus couldn't suppress a hearty laugh, not at his brother's vision but the fact that he had designed a whole experiment right then and there while talking to them. Every time he thought Opulous couldn't get any more brilliant or geeky, he shattered his expectations.

"I suppose you'd like me to help you with this new experiment now wouldn't you?" He chuckled, looking into Opulous's eyes with a knowing smile.

"Would you?" Opulous asked, almost like a kid asking his dad for ice cream.

"Heh, alright, but I'll feel like an enabler contributing to your science addiction!" Cygnus joked, and Lucas chuckled. "What do I need to do?"

"Simple, I'm going to turn off my telepathy blockers, call out to Nolus and a few others, and I'll act as the core of the network while you all communicate. With the inductors as amplifiers and my mind acting as the computer, we should all be able to communicate seamlessly from across the town clearly, without using our psychic energy, and without all those links getting messy and chaotic. I'd like you to join in too, if you would please Lucas?" Op asked.

"Of course!" He said, looking excited about being able to help again.

"Alright, let's do it quick, I still have to prep for my work and the minutes are ticking!" Cygnus said, glancing at a holo-clock glowing above the workbench.

Opulous telekinetically flipped a switch and a few red lights by the computer core switched to blue as the telepathic inhibitors were taken offline. In less than a minute, they had contacted Nolus, Venius, Satoria, and Tamista and gotten them all involved in the experiment. Naturally Op volunteered to be the center of the mind-powered network, since he had all the proper ports on his arm and tail to hook up to the Triton Inductors. He hooked himself up with about a dozen different cables and cords, and then called out to everyone to start.

"Alright, now I want everyone to try and communicate as much as you can over our link! Words, emotions, thoughts, images, everything! This is a stress test after all, so give me all you've got!" He said psychically.

What came next was a massive psychic deluge, everything that Opulous had asked for came pouring through the links, arcing back and forth between everyone involved. Cygnus couldn't tell whether or not it was perfectly organized like how Opulous wanted it, but it definitely didn't feel chaotic like he had mentioned before! He noticed that the little lights on Opulous's cybernetic limbs were glowing much brighter than normal now, and they were even making a very soft humming sound. Opulous's face was scrunched up in a look of pure concentration, and the Tritons glowed a low transparent purple light as they worked in tandem with Opulous's mind to direct and channel the thoughts.

Cygnus was just starting to really get deep into the link when finally Op's voice rang out frantically, "Ok….enough….please stop!"

A few moments later Op gasped for breath and reached down to swipe at the power switch with his organic hand. He started to topple over and Lucas reached out to catch him, but he righted himself before the need arose.

"Jeez, are you alright Opulous?" Lucas asked in a worried tone.

"I'll be fine…that was just a bit overwhelming is all. It was a lot to absorb all at once; it made my head spin!" He said

"Did it work? It felt good to me, but I'm not totally sure." Cygnus asked curiously.

"Yes! It was flawless! It stretched my mind to its limits just to handle all of you…and I think that if more than one were helping me, it could grow exponentially!" Opulous raved with a big enthusiastic grin. "The implications are huge!"

"Well I'd stick around to congratulate you more Opulous but Nolus told me over the link that he'd like to talk to me, and I'm already pushing my time limit before work. I'm going to teleport over to his place and see what he needs, and you guys can get back to us with further developments alright?" Cygnus asked, glancing over at the holo-clock that was hovering over the workbench.

"Alright, good luck at work Cygnus!" Opulous said, the smile still warm on his face.

* * *

Nolus's house was still just as green as ever, it was almost blinding to Cygnus's eyes when he appeared out of his teleport in the little upstairs den outside of Nolus's study. There was a beautiful plush green lounge by the stairs downward and a hallway to the left where the upstairs bedrooms were located. The ceiling was studded with small square polyplexiglass skylights that let natural sunlight flood in, and there were a few recessed lights here and there to provide electric light at night. Most notable though, was the massive overpopulation of house plants that Nolus had been accumulating over the years. Every single year he'd bring in five or ten more new potted plants and distribute them to various rooms in his house, and at this point it was becoming like a jungle.

"Ever since my sons and daughters moved out, I've needed something in this huge house to keep me company!" Nolus had always said when questioned about it.

Cygnus admired the new murals all over the walls that Nolus had commissioned from Melicia as he walked up to the smooth green painted steel door to the study. He really did admire how skilled Melicia was becoming, and a part of him stung with envy as he tapped the call button on the holo-panel next to the door. The stunning, photogenic mountain scene on the wall next to him was like another reminder to Cygnus that he never had really truly excelled in any one subject or skill like most of the rest of his family.

"Glad to see you came so quickly." Nolus said with a friendly smile.

"Well, I do have to go to work in ten minutes after all, so I figured time was of the essence. What can I do for you Nolus?" Cygnus asked, getting straight to the point as his eyes lingered painfully on the clock screen above Nolus's desk.

"Well it's about the upcoming wedding, Cygnus. I'm still upset over the timing that Aturiel and Jeselle chose to announce it, Kaira's in a funk that's almost as deep as the time when she had to wear that disruptor collar."

"Oh come on now, we discussed this already! We know that they didn't do it on purpose just to spite her!" Cygnus protested.

"No we _don't _know that, since they didn't consent to any sort of mind reading afterwards, which reeks to high heaven in my opinion!" Nolus retorted, his earlier look of friendliness melting into anger.

"Well even if they did, Jeselle is your daughter so it's not like your family is totally innocent in this whole debacle too! If you expect me to punish Aturiel, then I expect you to equally punish Jeselle too!"

"That was why I called you down here Cygnus, I've decided on what I want to do to punish both of them. You know how Jeselle was going on and on about how she wanted a big fancy public wedding, right? She said she wanted to make our race's very first legal wedding into something big and unforgettable. Well I think that it's only fair to Kaira that we should deny that request, we should restrict their wedding to a small, direct family only private affair. That way, Jeselle and Aturiel know that even though they're adults now, that doesn't give them the right to be spiteful asses, and it removes most of the sting for Kaira." Nolus proposed calmly, his anger fading.

Cygnus sighed and rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment. Nolus did raise a good point, and he knew at least that Aturiel wouldn't be able to whine about it being unfair to him. He drew one more deep breath and then nodded.

"Fair enough Nolus, I'll agree to that. I was really looking forward to having our first marriage turn out to be a spectacular affair, but it's better to avoid a potential angry scene from Kaira that could spoil the whole thing."

"Agreed. But there's one other thing that I wanted to discuss before you go Cygnus. Venius came up with an idea that could help avoid these issues with the marriages entirely in the future. We can implement a family approval system for marriages now so that nobody will try to spite each other like this in the first place." Nolus said. "Frankly, I think it would help to introduce it in Jeselle and Aturiel's wedding to get everyone used to it so it doesn't feel arbitrary."

"Uhhh, helo! Earth to Nolus! If we did that now, Kaira would object so fast that it'd make a sonic boom! Are you nuts?" Cygnus asked, anger returning to him in full force as the idea caused resentment and indignation to burn through him.

"No she wouldn't Cygnus, because she has already told me she doesn't even plan on attending the wedding at all. Honestly, after all the pain she was going through over all of it, did you expect her to?"

"Well, I guess you have a point. She can't raise an objection if she's not attending. But there won't be some hidden objection hotline that she could use to screw everything up for Aturiel, will there?" Cygnus retorted.

"Nope, that would be hardly fair to you. It's her choice whether or not she shows up or forfeits that chance, and she's already made that choice. Besides, even if she did object, it couldn't completely cancel the wedding, only delay it. It'd take at least 50% of the family members in attendance or more to cause it to fail." Nolus replied.

"Hmmm….alright. I'll agree to that too." Cygnus said, and then extended his hand to Nolus for a handshake.

"I'm glad we could discuss this and come to an agreement like adults, Cygnus." Nolus said with a smile, taking his hand and shaking it.

"Me too. Now I hope you'll forgive me for rushing out, but I have 2 minutes to get ready and go to work, so I'll see you later Nolus!" Cygnus said, then teleported away in an orange flash of light.

**Chapter XXI – Aturiel 1**

"This is perfect!" Aturiel said, excitedly looking around the meeting room that was still under construction.

He was greeted by getting smacked in the face by a dirty plastic construction tarp hanging over the entrance, which still lacked a set of doors. Sure it wasn't the best first impression possible for such a place, but when Aturiel managed to push his way through he was thoroughly impressed by the meeting hall that Cygnus and Opulous had designed. It was roughly built like an ancient Greek amphitheater though not as steep, and it had seating room for about 250 of their people. It was originally intended for future inter-house meetings, but the circular stage in the center would be perfect for his wedding too. Even if he was only going to be allowed to have the two families attending, it would still would be absolutely perfect once properly furnished and decorated. Aturiel only gnashed his teeth a little bit when he thought about the mandate that his father and Nolus had made about the wedding being private, the excitement of decking this meeting hall out soon did remind him of it, but he was still too excited about it too stay angry for long.

"Jeselle, this place is incredible. We could really do something unbelievable with it if we worked together to decorate it." Aturiel said with a smile, looking up at the big empty windows in the wall above the door that he had walked through.

"Well, if we can just replace these damn tarps with something nice, and get some actual seating put in, it'd be wonderful." She replied, coming up beside him and smiling. "Didn't Melicia say she was working on building some stained glass windows to go in those empty window wells?"

"That's right, but as usual she is refusing to tell anyone what kind of design she's making. Meh, Artists." Aturiel said with a scoff, walking down one of the aisles between the seating areas and taking Jeselle's hand. "She's closed off the basement to everyone and holes herself up in there for hours at a time every single day. At the rate she's been going you'd figure she wasn't even using her powers on the project!"

Jeselle chuckled and leaned up close to him as they walked down towards the central stage. "At least Tamista isn't so secretive with her works, she actually previewed a couple bits of her next album to me the other day, it's incredible stuff. She's been trying to learn how to read machine minds from Opulous so she can make music on par with Tanis one day, but you know how busy ol' Op can be."

"Yeah, Tamista knows that a little publicity helps get the hype up." Aturiel said, coming to a stop as they arrived in the circular viewing platform in the center of the meeting hall.

"Too bad you decided to hype it up a little too far by spiting Kaira and getting our big day all screwed up." Jeselle said in a passive-aggressive tone, walking up to the burnished metal wall and laying her hand on it.

"Oh come on now Jeselle, we've gone over this again and again since last night and we already agreed not to place any blame! You played an equal part in this little scheme and there's no use in trying to be the innocent one!" Aturiel said with a heavy sigh. "Let's try not to start our marriage out with arguments all the time."

"Yeah yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. I'm still just stinging from the mandate is all." Jeselle said, letting go of the wall and rubbing her temples in frustration as she tried to get her frustration under control.

"It's alright sweetie, it's alright. I forgive you. Don't sweat it. Just do your best to handle yourself alright. I dislike Kaira as much as you do, we just learned to keep it down and subtle." Aturiel replied, taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Thanks hun. I appreciate how straightforward you are about it. I don't necessarily _hate_ Kaira, she's just been a terrible sister to me for many years after you chose me over her. I don't really want to hurt her, just get a little revenge. Especially for that time she took all the chocolate that Aunt Satoria made for me and smeared it all over the walls of my room. Dad had thought it was mud, or something even worse!" She said with a disgusted sigh.

At that point there was a flash of blue light to their left and both of them turned to see that Opulous had just teleported into the meeting hall with him. He turned to them and gave them a curt nod.

"Afternoon Aturiel, Jeselle. Don't mind me, I'm here to check out the meeting hall. I think it might be a wonderful place to build the central hub for my new upcoming network of psionic inductors." Op said in his usual polite and blank tone.

"Well, as long as you don't start building until after our wedding is over!" Jeselle said with a slight chuckle.

"Oh? You plan to hold the ceremony in here? Seems to be a fitting place for such a thing, but have you gotten approval from Cygnus and Nolus? I know of the issues you've been having with Kaira and the decision to hold the private ceremony, and this place would seem more suited to the public ceremony that you had wanted before." He replied, his mechanical tail clicking a little as it swayed slowly behind him.

"No, not yet, but I'm confident that they'll allow it if we do keep it private and ask in a respectful manner." Aturiel said, quirking an eyebrow at Opulous.

"Well in any case, I'm not even sure I'm going to build anything in here. If I do, it certainly won't be ready for at least another seven weeks; constructing the cybernetic link-up modules as well as the numerous inductor units is going to be extremely time consuming and expensive. I just wanted to scope it out and see if there is any potential here." Op said, then started to look around the room and scan it with his cybernetic eye.

"Good to hear it. I'm sorry that you won't be attending the wedding Op." Aturiel said, not sure where to take the conversation now that his quirky Uncle was starting to get to work scanning.

"I might actually." Opulous replied, not interrupting his scan as he turned in place and examined the room. "Nolus and Cygnus both agreed that they should have a third party perform the actual rites, to avoid any conflicts of interest between the two families involved, and according to them I'm the ideal choice due to my impartiality. I'm not quite so sure how good I would be at capturing the emotion of such an occasion though, and I'm certainly nothing like a priest that humans use at their weddings. But if need be, I can always do some research into human culture with Cygnus in order to devise a proper rite for you. This is our race's first time stepping into the realms of marital matters after all, we cannot simply carbon-copy a human marriage after all."

Aturiel couldn't hold back a sudden burst of laughter, the idea of Opulous in priest's robes and administering vows struck him as hysterical and he began to bust a gut right there in front of him, helpless to stop. His laughter echoed remarkably well through the acoustically engineered meeting hall.

"What's so funny?" Opulous asked, now pausing his scan to turn and look at Aturiel. Jeselle blushed a little in humiliation for her soon-to-be spouse.

"N-nothing! Nothing! I just remembered a little joke that Amara had told me last week." Aturiel replied, trying to cover for himself and hoping that Opulous wouldn't try peeking into his mind.

Opulous shrugged and turned back around to complete his scan and Jeselle elbowed Aturiel in the ribs while Op wasn't looking. That only made Aturiel snicker again and bite his lower lip. "We'll be honored to have you if you do help us like that Opulous. Just make sure you let us know what the ceremony itself will be like a few days in advance alright?" He said.

"I'll be sure to write a reminder in my schedule." Op replied, and then turned to face Aturiel after the scan was finished. "Though maybe you could help me with something in return while I'm here? It's very minor."

"We'd be glad to!" Jeselle said with a smile, not giving Aturiel a chance to nix it.

"I've been trying to come up with a name for my new psychic network for the last few days and so far I've come up with nothing. My mind is better suited to problems of logic than creativity, and every name I've come up with has either been clichéd and obvious, or completely exotic and nonsensical. I figured that since Kaira got the honor of naming our land K'telle, it would only be fair if you two could have the chance to name the massive communications network that I will eventually build for it." Op said.

"Hmmmm… well I've never been one for names myself." Aturiel admitted, reaching up to scratch the base of his ear as he tried to come up with something. "How about….. 'The Unity'?"

Op frowned and shook his head. "That's one of the clichés that I've been to avoid. Sure the link helps us all share our minds and emotions, but I don't want it to sound like something out of a children's cartoon. It has to carry a cultural oomph to it that makes it as unique as the society we're building."

"Uhhh….." Jeselle began, turning her gaze upward as she thought. "I might need a couple of days to set my brain to percolate on this one Op. Can I get back to you when I think of something?"

"Yeah, I'm going to have to go with Jeselle on this one too." Aturiel added.

"That's fine. Thank you for your help!" Opulous said, then gave them another curt little bow of respect before teleporting out.

**Chapter XXII – Amara 2**

Amara grumbled under her breath, shielding herself with a psychic from the downpour that had kicked up over the K'tellian plains. She had been out spreading spores and seeds of grass type Pokémon in the plains for Nolus as an extra credit assignment. She was toting a bag of it over her right shoulder and tossing the seeds and spores when the storm kicked up, and shouted a few curse words when the rain started falling.

"Damn it! I thought I had gotten away from weather like this when we moved out of Purity Canyon!" She growled, raising a barrier above her head to block the water.

It was the first time she had seen such a big storm out here on the plains, the sky had darkened rapidly and the cracking rumbles of thunder filled the air. Amara was far away enough from their town that if she tried to run she'd be soaked before she even made it a quarter of the way, so she caved in and teleported instead, appearing just in front of the porch if Nolus's place. As soon as she materialized something big and furry collided with her in the tail, sending her tumbling onto the steps where she bruised up her knees and scraped her palm trying to catch herself. She heard an angry growling sort of sound and turned around to see one of Venius's Luxrays on its rump, pawing at its head in annoyance.

"Watch where you're teleporting, foolish kitten!" It growled at her in Poke-speak.

"Oh stuff it Luxxy, maybe you should put that X-ray vision of yours to good use and actually watch what's in front of you!" Amara replied angrily, climbing to her feet and jumping onto the porch as the rain really started to come down.

"If I didn't know that Master would psychically throttle me for it, I'd show you just how nasty a Crunch attack feels right on that big clumsy tail of yours that you mashed into my face!" Luxxy replied, jumping onto the porch with her and strutting all the way to the opposite end to curl up.

"He ought to throttle you more just for that attitude of yours!" She grunted, brushing herself off and using a quick recover on the bruises and scrapes before ringing Nolus's doorbell.

Luxxy grunted and sparked a little bit, but ignored Amara's comment and remained still on the smooth metal floor. A few moments after the cheerful chime sounded, the door swished open and Amara got an eyeful of Kaira's smile.

"Afternoon Amara, what can I do for ya?" Kaira asked cheerfully.

"My goodness, you're in higher spirits than usual, pinkie!" Amara said with a wry smile, using her favorite pet name for Kaira and then offering her the bag of seed. "Would you give these to your Dad for me? Tell him I'll finish tomorrow when it's not freakin' raining. And if he bitches at me for not using a psychic shield or an umbrella, just tell him I hate rain with a fiery passion and I'll go back out into the field when it's not so wet that it squishes when I walk!" She said with a little 'humph' sound for emphasis.

"Heh, alright Amara. Before you go though, just a warning: Emael's been going around looking for you. He seemed very eager to talk to you, though didn't really say why. Just a heads-up." Kaira said.

"Huh, weird. Thanks for the warning Kaira, have a good day." Amara said, handing off the bag and nodding as the door slid closed.

A few more Luxrays from the pack leapt onto the porch shortly afterward to escape the rain. They eyed her suspiciously as she walked back toward the steps and looked out past the overhang at the clouds that had gathered. There didn't seem to be any break in the deep grey above; she sighed and looked back at her own house before teleporting there instead of walking through the rain.

Amara ran into her sister Eloniel in the kitchen as she went to get a small bowl of berries to snack on from the fridge. Eloniel's jewelry glittered a little when a flash of lightning struck a few miles away. The thunder made the house rattle and Eloniel whistled a little in admiration. "That was a big one! Sounded like it was pretty close!"

"Yeah, if those lazy Luxrays hadn't gotten so averse to water I bet they'd be out there dancing to attract a few strikes as we speak." Amara said, opening the fridge and glancing outside.

"Emael came by the house earlier to look for you, by the way." Eloniel added, taking a sip from a glass of water and leaning against the counter next to the window. "He said he wanted to talk to you."

"Yeah I heard." Amara said with a grunt, popping a berry into her mouth and closing the fridge. "You remember how he used to try and come talk to me all the time after the move?"

"Yeah, he seemed to be a little clingy. You did tell me that he showed genuine interest in you before during that study session, but you didn't return it." Eloniel replied, a slightly worried expression crossing her face.

"Yeah, I really hope he hasn't decided to start up all that crap again. He's a nice guy, I really do like him, but he's got such a terrible problem with his bigotry that Venius taught him that I'm not sure I could ever be comfortable with him, you know." Amara said, walking over to lean next to her sister on the counter.

"I couldn't tell, he was hiding his emotions from me when I saw him. But if it is the case, what are you going to do?" Eloniel asked, another lightning strike making her body shimmer and shine even more than she did normally.

"I honestly don't know. I don't want to hurt him again, I hate pushing people away. But if he gets clingy again, I might have to." She replied, popping another berry and chewing it up quickly.

"Well if Dad weren't so busy in his lab as usual I'd suggest you go talk to him about it. But for now, all you can really do is go hang out in your room until he comes home at night and try to avoid running into Emael?" Eloniel suggested, then reached over to steal a berry.

"Hey, get your own bowl!" She said possessively, batting Leonia's hand away.

"Advice fee!" Eloniel said with a chuckle, and then grabbed one more before teleporting away.

* * *

Amara hid in her room as Eloniel suggested, and with nothing else to keep her busy she decided to actually work on her studies for once. Over the last few years she had grown almost as talented as her father in math and physics, she just lacked the sheer obsessive dedication that he had to research and study. Her studies weren't going to protect her from the inevitable though, soon she heard the doorbell ring cheerfully followed by footsteps thudding loudly up the stairs. She put on her best facial expression for studies and frowned a little as Emael appeared in her doorway.

"Hey Amara. I know your sister said you were busy, but I wanted to talk to you about something." Emael said, a slight look of nervousness on his face as he walked in.

"What is it Emael? I have a big exam tomorrow and I need to spend the evening cramming." Amara lied. The next exam wasn't for another three weeks.

"I….I know this probably sounds strange coming from me…but I need your help to get along better with humans." Emael replied, walking a little closer.

Amara quirked her eyebrow and looked up at him. His body seemed to be much more toned and well defined now, his exercise working at the Montalbo plant on the other edge of town was really starting to show. She admitted he looked pretty good, but his words were definitely odd.

"Why would you ask me for that? You know Nolus or Cygnus could help you out pretty well, maybe even my sisters."

"Well, it's because I enjoy spending time with you, and we haven't had a chance to in a fairly long time. I remembered that you were always telling me I was too hostile to humans, and figured you might be a good person to help me." He said, looking down at the floor as if it were difficult for him to say.

Amara tapped the power button on her digital pad and sat up on her legs, crossing them Indian-style. She had always known Emael to be a fairly intelligent and friendly person, except when grouchy after work. All those times she had told herself he wasn't dating material due to his prejudices seemed to immediately come back to her.

"And what exactly has made you have this change of heart?" She asked suspiciously, wondering if it was a ruse to get at her.

"Well, Mr. Montalbo at the plant has said he plans on asking some of us to branch out from our home factory here and commute to other factories nationwide each day. He said he'd give me a 30% raise if I were to teleport to and from one of his factories in Orre every day. If I accepted that deal, I'd be working entirely with humans, away from our people, and I need to learn to handle it."

"So you only want to change yourself for money?" She asked with a frown.

Emael winced noticeably and closed his eyes, slowly shaking his head. "Well, that's part of it, but the other day when Asha came to visit us again, I had some sort of revelation too. Mind if I telepathically show you what happened?"

Amara squinted untrustingly. She remembered what happened last time their mind linked together, and sharply recalled the awkwardness that resulted. But this really could mean that Emael was changing for the better, and her own inner optimist who thought so much of him wouldn't let her turn that possibility down.

"Alright, go ahead."

Amara closed her eyes, and a few moments later she could feel Emael's mind connecting with hers. She could sense that he was definitely infatuated with her, perhaps even more so than the last time they had linked. But he was careful not to let uncontrolled thoughts wander into their link, and got right to business. She saw him just getting off of work at the Montalbo plant, walking home alongside a human co-worker who was living in their town. The human man was roughly 6'4", very burly and stocky, and looked as if he could take on a Machoke in an arm wrestling match and win. Emael was having an argument with him, they were yelling at each other over who was responsible for spilling molten metal all over the floor inside the plant. The human had just started using blatantly anti-Mewtwo insults, calling Emael a 'Filthy, jumped up housecat with some fancy mind tricks', and was saying he knew coming to work in K'telle was a bad idea. That was when Asha arrived.

Asha put herself right in between Emael and the man as the argument came to a head, and bravely began telling off a steel worker who was over a foot taller than her and probably weighed 100 pounds more than her. She told him he should be ashamed of himself for making such blatantly racist remarks, and that next time she heard it, she'd report him to Montalbo and have him fired. The man then landed a single devastating slap on her cheek, and Emael responded by knocking him off his feet with a good telekinetic punch.

Emael sped up the playback of his memories until a few days passed, then he saw a small private hearing where the worker, Asha, and Emael were all testifying before Montalbo. The worker tried to lie about what had happened, but when Cygnus and Nolus read the minds of Asha and Emael, they proved the truth, and Montalbo responded by not only firing him, but having him arrested and carted off for assault. Emael was not charged since he had acted in the defense of another. Then, after the hearing, Asha had hugged Emael and told him that he "Wasn't such a nasty racist after all."

"Wow." Amara said as the vision ended and the link was cut off. "How come I never heard of this?"

"Cygnus, Nolus, and Montalbo all agreed to keep the matter private. It was last week, on Saturday." Emael replied. "Ever since then, I have known that there are at least a few good humans out there, like Asha, and Montalbo isn't half bad either."

"I see! That's quite a tale! And now you're finally willing to work up the nerve and take that job in Orre, am I right?"

"Heh well, the job opportunity only came up three days ago. But that was enough to push me over the edge and motivate me to finally go out there and learn how to deal with my issues. What better person could I think of for it than the woman who always told me that I needed to become a more accepting person?" He asked with a smile, and eased himself down to sit next to her.

"Well, alright. I'll be your professor. But you'd better not tell your Dad! He'd probably go off on some kind of rant about how I was 'corrupting' your mind." Amara said with a chuckle.

**Chapter XXIII – Opulous 7**

"Have a good evening Lucas, thank you again for all your help!" Opulous said to Lucas as the ex-human walked out of the lab.

"You're welcome Opulous, glad I could help!" Lucas replied before ducking out through the door and vanishing.

Opulous smiled, he was very close now. After today's experiment using his mind for long term stress testing, he was quite sure that he was mere millimeters away from a breakthrough with his new communications network. He had been using his mind as the network processor again between his psionic inductors and had asked any and every member of their species to freely use the network for their communication needs over the entire course of the day. He had been used for quick conversations, telepathic image sharing, and even as the core of the work links for Cygnus's construction on the tower. For 12 hours straight, with Lucas monitoring him and bringing him food and water, Opulous had been one with his brethren and served as the intermediary between them for all their communications needs. After all was said and done, the reports that came in from them were phenomenally good too. Not a single person in their little town had to spend a single droplet of their psychic energy to communicate anymore while the network was up, and all reported it working with perfect clarity as he acted as the computer that held it all together.

Opulous's mind raced as he worked on documenting the results. Time ticked by on his holo-clock as he typed up logs of all the various communiqués he had assisted in transmitting, and it was 11PM by the time his concentration was broken.

"Dad?" A soft female voice asked from the door to his lab, which was still open.

Opulous jumped a little, not having sensed the approach of his daughter since he was so absorbed with his work. He turned and saw Amara peeking through the door at him.

"Amara! I didn't expect a visit from you tonight! What can I do for you, love?" He asked, raising his hands from the keyboard and gesturing to her to come to him.

"Well, I need some advice, Dad." Amara said, walking into the lab and looking at him shyly.

"Anytime. Consider my knowledge an open book to you." He said with a warm, fatherly smile.

"Well, it's not something you're likely an expert in. It's about guys…" She said, trailing off in shyness.

Opulous blinked once and then chuckled. "Well, I may not have any degrees on the subject, but I think I at least have some perspective in the area. I'll see what I can do."

Amara took a deep sigh, crossing her arms and knitting her brow before she spoke. "It's about Emael. He came to me a couple days ago, asking me for help dealing with humans. I thought it was just his way of cozying up to me in order to try to charm me and potentially ask me out. But he's been so kind to me while I worked on teaching him, and we've even been spending time doing fun things together too. He seems to genuinely be having a change of heart, and…well, I don't think I mind anymore the fact that he's interested in me. I think I might be feeling something for him."

"Well, have you psychically linked with him to verify any of it?" Opulous asked, his own mind immediately seeking out a more empirical kind of evidence.

"No, that'd seem a little awkward, don't you think? Last time it happened I couldn't stand looking him in the eye afterward and had to leave. I'm almost afraid of doing it again; it makes me afraid of what I might see." She replied.

"What are you afraid of? That he's really just trying to get between your legs? Or that he's pretending to like humans for you?" Opulous asked, his fatherly side coming through a little.

"No because….well, he did link with me once the other day, just to show me something that had happened with him, Asha, and a human worker at the Montalbo plant here in town. He really did seem genuine."

"Then what's there be afraid of? If he genuinely is improving, and feels truly attracted to you, then what are you worried about?" Opulous asked. "You did say you were starting to feel for him too, right?"

"Yeah, but what if he feels much more for me than what I feel for him? What if I lose interest and break his heart? What if something happens that makes his racism flare back up?"

"Amara, when you think in terms of 'what if', you're only tormenting yourself with things that haven't even happened yet. What if humans were to bomb us again, and we were all wiped out this time? What if the UHN isn't able to stop the last few traces of the Earth's ice caps from melting away? What if I were to die tomorrow from some sort of disease? You can't let these kinds of things dominate your mind, or you'll be paralyzed with anxiety your whole life. And besides, have you bothered to ask yourself what could happen if it went really well?"

"Well no. I don't suppose I did…" She said, blushing in embarrassment now.

"What if what you had were to grow and grow until it blossomed into what Aturiel and Jeselle have now? What if he took you out to dinner tomorrow night and you found yourself in his arms, kissing him?" He asked with a little smile.

"Daaaad!" Amara groaned, reaching over to slug him on the shoulder. "Fine, I'll give him a chance, if only to make you stop talking like that! You don't know how freaky it sounds coming from a nerd like you!"

Opulous gave her a small, mischievous smile, and then said "Well if you want me to talk nerdy some more, I do have exciting news for you!"

"Do you mean your stress test today with your psychic network? I was one of the people who was there using it silly, don't you remember?" Amara asked.

"Ohhh, right! I guess I was too absorbed in everything to really notice!" He said with a chuckle, and then started typing again on his logs to enter what she had done over the link.

"Sometimes Dad, I wonder what you'd do if you didn't have your labs and experiments down here to keep you company!" Amara joked, and then reached over and hugged him lightly. "Thanks for the advice."

"Don't mention it! Though I don't suppose you could help me with one tiny thing before you run off to study some more, could you?" Opulous asked, returning her hug.

"And just what might that be?" She asked, taking her arms off of him and shooting him an inquisitive look.

"When he does take you out for dinner, or some other romantic outing, promise me you won't go outside of the grasslands of K'telle alright? Emael wants to improve his relations with humans, but right now he's still quick to anger with them. I don't want him starting a fight in human cities where they might turn on psionic disruptors and hurt you and him, alright?"

"Fair enough. Deal." Amara said, taking his hand and giving it a quick shake.

* * *

Opulous gave a polite bow to his three other brothers as they settled down around a table in Nolus's study. Venius had called them together the morning after for a private meeting, just the four of them, and hadn't yet told them why. He smiled and patted Opulous on the shoulder right at the melding point between his cybernetic arm and organic shoulder.

"So what did you need, Venius? I'm fairly busy running a few more various network tests, so it would be prudent if we kept this meeting succinct." Opulous said, cringing a little at the strange sensations the pat caused in his shoulder along the melding line.

"Right to business, as usual Op. Basically, what I wanted to suggest, was that we warm up the ol' genetic diversity algorithm and the cloning tanks again, and make another new generation of our people." Venius replied.

Cygnus sputtered a little and immediately shook his head no. "Venius, what kind of craziness is going through your mind now? We barely could handle it last time, and that was when we didn't already have families to worry about, or constant work building a whole new town and tower! Unless you plan on using artificial childhood simulation programs like the one Mewtwo used to help grow Tanis, then we simply don't have the time! And based on how that system failed a few years after Mewtwo died, I'm not exactly a fan of the idea!"

"Moreover, but wasn't it the goal of my old Genetic Diversity Algorithm to allow us to build a genetically variable base population in order to leave cloning behind and actually start our species reproducing naturally? Don't you think this defeats the purpose entirely?" Opulous added.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't let nature take its course now, but think of how slowly things are going! Our current new generation of 20 are now in their early twenties and only now do we have one couple getting married! We've been importing lots of human labor into our town, and pretty soon the humans here will outnumber us!" Venius said.

"Oh Arceus damnit, here you go again Venius with your paranoid racist bullshit!" Nolus growled. "Next thing we know, you're going to be asking us to divide the town up between human and Mewtwo sections for 'safety's' sake!"

"Would you calm down and listen to me Nolus! I'm not saying anything of the sort! I just wanted to make sure that our species is growing fast enough to ensure our eventual survival, just in case another group like the psi-slayers decides to come after us! Think about it! Our population of 27 is clustered tightly into this town with 40 other humans. If a group of wackos were to decide to try again, they could theoretically wipe us out with a much bigger bomb, and then whoops, looks like Mewtwo and Tanis did all that work for nothing!" Venius ranted.

"And just who is going to raise all these new children then anyway, Venius? Because I don't know if you've noticed, but almost all of us have our hands full with expanding the town!" Cygnus replied.

"We'll ask for volunteers." Venius stated simply. "Anyone with the time and room on their hands to handle new children will come forward, and we'll only create new children to match the number of volunteers so that nobody is burdened. If Jeselle and Aturiel manage to have their own child or children as well, all the better.

"Hmmmmm, I guess that makes sense. But Venius, can we at least wait until after everyone is settled down and relaxed a few weeks after the wedding before asking for volunteers? I get the feeling that people are going to be coming away from this starting to wonder about children, and if we let them think about it for awhile it'll be a lot more likely that we'd get some takers." Nolus said.

"Agreed." Venius said. "Opulous, can you have the cloning tanks set up in the tower basement by then?"

"Certainly. It's simply a matter of moving the equipment a few blocks from the old Genetech research facility that Nolus and I used to run." He replied.

"Alright, and you don't have any other objections or anything, everyone?" Venius asked.

Nolus and Cygnus shook their heads no, and Opulous followed suit.

"Alright, thank you guys! Now I'll let you go for now and get back to work on your various projects! I gotta go for now too anyway, gotta give one of my sons some romantic advice on a girl he's been after too!" Venius said, then teleported out.

**Chapter XXIV – Emael 3**

Emael smiled happily as he sat next to Amara in the little shuttle he had borrowed. It was a tiny two person craft mainly designed for carrying cargo in the back, and the seats were designed to carry humans, forcing them to sit with their tails in their laps. But spending time with Amara always made him feel good, especially when things were going so well.

"Alright Emael, now that we're all buckled in, why don't you tell me where it is that we're going tonight?" Amara asked him with a half-amused, half quizzical expression.

"Well, I figured what better place to go to spend a relaxing evening after lessons than Mount Moon in Kanto? We've been working hard on my manners for so masny days now, and you've been cramming so much for that exam, that a nice night out should do worlds of good for both of us!" He said, starting up the shuttle now and remembering the flying lessons that his father had given him.

He could sense that Amara liked the idea and would have accepted normally, but something came up that bothered her immensely, and she gritted her teeth and shook her head no. "I'm sorry Emael, but I promised my father that if we were to go out somewhere together that we wouldn't go to any human controlled lands. He made it explicitly clear that until he and I both agreed that your lessons were complete that you shouldn't take us anywhere where we might run into humans."

Emael sighed in frustration and gripped the control sticks tightly in both hands to release some frustration. "And where should we go then? Flying laps around the K'tellian grasslands? Ocean sightseeing? Both sound pretty boring to me!"

"Well, you're the one who asked me out! Try to think of something." She said, shooting him a slightly unimpressed look.

Emael struggled through a few moments of internal panic as his mind tried to come up with some ideas. Every spot he could think of was too risky, even Purity Canyon now thanks to the fact that human ships patrolled Johto's wilderness periodically. Then, when an idea finally did come to him, he grinned and flicked on the engine's ignition.

"Ohhh, got an idea eh?" Amara asked, looking at him expectantly as the ship hummed to life and began to lift up into the air.

"Mhmm, and it's both unusual and satisfies your father's condition!" He said, pulling back on the sticks and throttling up. The viewscreen filled with stars as he angled up toward the night sky.

Emael enjoyed the confused expression that grew on Amara's face as she tried to figure out where he was taking them. The screen was now filled with the darkness of the night sky and dotted with a stunning starscape, and the lights from the town faded away beneath them as they rushed ever higher, momentum pushing them back into their seats. Amara's face finally lit up with delight as the realization struck her.

"Oh no!" She said and laughed. "You're not! You naughty naughty person! What will my father say when he finds out we used his shuttle for this?" She asked with a big grin.

"Hey, we'll get it back to him without a scratch! The hull might be a little warm from re-entry on the way back, but it's not like we're gonna be joyriding or anything!" He replied with a grin that implied that they would actually be doing just that.

Emael gunned the engine and they rushed into the heavens even faster, pushing them both back into their seats even harder. The tiny, almost imperceptible blue line of the Blue River came into view and as they left the Earth's atmosphere behind and Emael finally slowed them down. He turned the shuttle around so they could get a nice view of the dark side of the Earth below them. The cities sparkled beautifully all over the island of Japan, as well as Korea and China, and a few large human ships shone brightly in the distance too.

"Wow, I haven't seen this view since my Dad took us on a field trip up into space five years ago. It's more beautiful than I remembered it." Amara marveled, "You can't even see K'telle from up here, we're so high."

"Well, our town is pretty tiny after all." Emael replied. "Once our dads finish that big central tower we'll be much more visible."

"Heh, we might actually get put on the map as something more than just a wild Pokémon Preserve at some point!"

"Here's hoping! Though then we'd have to handle human politicians…and politicians aren't exactly the best kind of people." Emael said, suppressing his prejudice for Amara's sake.

Amara laughed and reached over to pat him on the shoulder. "Seems you really are changing for the better Emael. I'm proud."

"Thanks Amara. Coming from you, that really mean a lot to me." He said with a smile, then let go of one of the control sticks with one hand to reach out and take her hand.

"Heh, I'd tell you to keep your eyes on the road if space wasn't such an empty place!" Amara joked, and then leaned across the space between the seats and pecked him lightly on the cheek.

If Emael weren't already a reddish orange his blush would have been like a beacon to her. He found that his other hand still on a control stick was suddenly shaking a little bit, and his heart was racing wildly in his chest. He took his eyes entirely off the viewscreen and looked at her nervously, and that only made her smile at him playfully.

"So what now, Casanova?"

"I…uhh…hadn't thought much farther ahead than this." He admitted, smiling back sheepishly. "Remember I just came up with this destination on the spot!"

"Well it's not like we can play a board game in zero-g, and this little cabin is far too small for a game of holo-ball!"

"You know they have started making board games with magnetic boards and pieces for use on long trips in space!" Emael interjected, wanting to break his silence with a witty observation.

"Well as long as they keep them away from the wiring of the ship's consoles that's actually a pretty clever idea! Do you have one with you?"

"Well, not really, no. But I do think I know what we can do now!" Emael said, a playfully overblown look of pride crossing his face.

"I'm listening!"

"Well, this is something you need to hold on and watch for." He said, and let go of her hand to grip the sticks tightly again. He steered them straight toward the Blue River and gunned the engines again.

The great blue vortex swelled in their viewscreen as they hurtled toward it at increasingly greater speeds and a wave of excitement and self confidence washed over Emael as he decided it was time to impress Amara with his flying skills. They entered the considerable energy fields surrounding the River and Emael turned off the engines, letting the River's energies draw them forward and accelerate them instead.

"Uhhh…Emael? Why are the engines off? We're going to get sucked in! You know this thing pulls in ships like a giant magnet!"

"We'll be fine. My Dad has taught me a lot about flying over the last few years, and all it takes is a little fancy footwork!" He bragged, and then turned them and began flying them in a spiral pattern using the directional thrusters only. He used the outward momentum of the spiral flight pattern to counteract the inward pull of the river's energies, but at the same time still rode them forward around the Earth at greater and greater speeds.

"Spire!" Amara shrieked, pointing forward at a large relay tower directly ahead in the thin grid of energy collectors that surrounded the River.

Emael confidently swerved around it, disrupting the spiral for just a moment before resuming it with ease. The Earth seemed to spin around them in circles, as well as the bright blue glow of the River itself and the thin meta grid of energy collectors. Emael wasn't aware of it, but his impressive display of skill was starting to make his girlfriend feel a little dizzy and sick. They were rapidly circumnavigating the globe, and then Amara pointed again in fear.

"Emael! Space station! You can't swerve to avoid that!" She said as one of the River's 8 space stations came into view.

"No, but I can do this!" He said, and ignited the engines again and blasted them outward from the River.

Their little shuttle skirted past the hull of the station and they passed right by a huge line of human trade ships that were coming and going to the station for goods distribution. Emael grinned and even took one hand off of the control sticks to show off and looked over at Amara, and she rolled her eyes at how much he was hamming it up and enjoying himself. It was at that point, when Emael had taken his eyes off the screen, that a smaller ship managed to get in their path, and their shuttled just barely grazed it. With the shrieks and bangs of metal ripping and crushing, a good portion of the upper hull was sheared away, taking out all of the navigational circuitry and tearing off one of the upper rear engines as well. They were sent into a spiral much more vicious than the one before; if they both hadn't been buckled in they would have been thrown out of their seats and smashed into the bulkheads.

Emael just spewed profanity after profanity as he tried to correct their course and stop the spiral, but the controls were overloading as the ship's power short circuited out of the fried nav circuits and into the rest of the systems. Their spiral seemed to slowly stop by itself though, oddly enough, and for a moment the ship seemed to hang deadly still in space. Emael and Amara both looked curiously at each other and then at the flickering viewscreen. They were turning of their own accord, starting to move. The spiral had carried them past the station; now they were slowly drifting right toward the Blue River again.

"Emael, now would be a really good time to hit the engines!" Amara said in a slightly panicky tone.

"Working on it!" He grunted, tugging at the sticks and tapping at the ignition button on the holo-panel.

The only thing his labors accomplished was to make the entire panel flicker and short out. The sticks went rigid and the engines on the back of the craft began to groan and hiss dangerously.

"Emael!" Amara shouted, pointing at the viewscreen, which was filling with blue glow before shorting out too.

"Unbuckle!" Emael yelled back, undoing his own buckle and forming a psychic energy shield around them both, trapping plenty of air inside it with them. The metal of the ship's frame began to groan and creak, then scream as the hull fractured and began to rip apart under the pull of the river.

Amara jumped out of her seat and Emael took her hand, running to the back of the compartment and slamming the manual override lever on the airlock, making the inner door swish open first. The outer door refused to open though, so he did the next best thing; he focused a beam of psychic power and blew a hole through it big enough for them to fly through, and they were pulled through inside their air bubble into open space. He kicked his psychic flight into high gear, straining to escape the River's lethal embrace, and just a few moments after their escape, the River's energy collection grid opened up on the falling shuttle with its point defense lasers. It had been automatically programmed to shoot down any ships or debris that had been trapped in the gravitational pull to prevent large objects from disrupting the River's integrity, so the shuttle was blasted apart in a huge fireball, the whole explosion being utterly silent in the vacuum of space.

"Emael you moron! The UN Orbital patrol is going to be here any second after that stunt!" Amara growled.

"They won't find us." Emael said, and then psychically cloaked them as he finally escaped the pull of the River.

"Alright, then how are we gonna get home then, huh? We're just a little bit stranded without a ship here! Are we gonna go back to the station and hitch a ride on one of those week-long orbital freighters?" Amara asked.

"Who says we need a ship?" Emael asked, grinning at her and squeezing her hand tightly as he started to fly them back toward the Earth.

"Are you out of your damned mind?!?" Amara shrieked when she realized what he was about to do, watching as the Earth swelled up before them. "We'll be incinerated!"

"No we won't! Listen, I know I haven't set a good example of handling wild things already tonight, but you're going to have to trust me! If we go back to the human station looking for a ride now, they'll know for sure it was us who recklessly hit that other ship and we'd end up in a UN prison for sure! So it's either this or we rot in jail for several decades and bring shame to our families and species! Besides, I've gone through simulations of this kind of Earth dive before! I have more than enough energy to handle it!"

"Oh God! Oh Arceus! Ahhhh!" She yelled as the roar of the atmosphere suddenly filled their ears. An aura of orange flames began to form around their spherical shield and Amara suddenly clung to Emael, fearing for her life.

Beautiful orange tongues of intense flame surrounded them as they plummeted toward the Earth, so bright that they had to shield their eyes with their hands. The strain on Emael's psychic reserves was immense, but he had been training well to manage his power and he withstood it and kept them safe. He plugged one of his ears with a finger but dared not let go of Amara's hand with his other.

"Woooooooo!!!" He shouted enthusiastically as they hit the peak of the re-entry burn, plummeting at colossal speed, and Amara clenched her eyes and hugged against him. It was easily the most exhilarating thing Emael had ever experienced, and once the flames finally died down and they passed smoothly into the open air several miles up, Amara slowly opened her eyes.

"Wow…look at that!" She gasped, pointing down at the Pacific Ocean so far below. The waters reflected the moonlight beautifully like dozens of sparkles clustered all together. From this high up the waves looked so tiny and insignificant that they seemed almost impossible to distinguish.

"Heh, told you it was gonna be alright!" Emael said, rubbing her shoulders a little bit as she continued to hold fast against his body.

"This is…beautiful!" She whispered, pointing off in the distance at Japan, the lights of all the cities so much closer but still so far away.

Emael simply nodded in agreement and watched ahead as he flew them back toward their home. He didn't need to use his energy to propel them downward, only forward since gravity could do the rest. The mainland of Honshu swelled before them as the wind whipped his air bubble, he didn't want to release it yet since the air was so thin up so high, and it would be cold and would whip and toss them around anyway. A few small clumps of cloud passed by around them as they fell and fell and fell.

"This has been fun and all Emael, but what are we gonna say to my Dad? Turns out you wanted to joyride after all?" Amara asked, not turning her eyes away from the beautiful view.

"Don't worry Amara. Ever since I finished saving for my new house, I just started saving money for emergencies, and I've got quite a decent little nest egg stored up for an occasion just like this. You tell your Dad that I'll buy him a brand new shuttle to replace the one we wrecked, and I'll even make sure it's got twice as many fancy features as the last one!" Emael said with a big grin.

"You mean _you_ wrecked!" She said, unable to suppress a laugh as his contagious optimism infected her.

"Heh, alright, you got me. But it was worth it at least!" He said, and hugged her tightly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I's not every day that I get to take my girlfriend into space, wreck a shuttle, save both our lives, take an exciting real live atmosphere dive, and see a view like this all in a row! I'd say that's worth the price of a shuttle!" He said, and this time took the initiative to carefully lean in and kiss her.

Amara had been opening her mouth to tell him how sweet and stupid that sounded when his lips met with hers. She was filled with hesitation for just a moment, but the warmth of his affection overcame it and she happily returned it, hugging him back and letting go of her cares as they fell home. They kissed in free fall like that for what felt like hours, not letting go and only caring to stop when the ground got disturbingly close.

**Chapter XXV – Venius 8**

"Alright Venius, do you remember how the camera works?" Opulous asked, offering him another lesson with the fist-sized holo-capture device.

"For the fifth time Op, no I don't!" Venius said in a frustrated tone as he looked over the small plastic device with the four lenses protruding from the front. "I know you want to make sure we can look back on this historic event for ages to come, but I'm not a moron!"

Opulous looked down at Venius's stumbling fingers on the camera, expecting him to do something ironically stupid or careless at that moment, but Venius held onto it, found the button, and even lifted the device to his face and took a few seconds of video of Op staring expectantly. He then replayed it in front of Op and smiled.

"Alright, I get it, you can handle it. Just make sure you stay in the back and catch the whole thing alright? We'll be starting any second-"

Opulous was cut off by Cygnus's call, and he clenched his robotic fingers in excitement and then smiled before heading out of the little side room. Venius followed and raised the camera, starting to film.

All of Cygnus and Nolus's families, except for Kaira, were there assembled, and Aturiel and Jeselle were waiting together at the central platform of the meeting hall. The small amount of people compared to the hall's 250 capacity gave the place a startling feeling of emptiness, but the décor was good enough to mostly counteract it. Melicia, who wasn't there since she didn't have a role to play like Venius, had designed some holographic sculpture of huge flower arrangements ahead of time that shimmered around Jeselle and Aturiel, and Opulous kept a solemn and emotionless face as he walked up to them and prepared to start the marriage. Venius migrated around from the side of the room to the center aisle behind everyone so that he had an even equal shot of both families in the foreground.

"Two families have gathered today to celebrate the matrimonial union of these two, Aturiel Kesta and Jeselle Skygem." Opulous began. "In the interest of both families involved, I ask that all members begin by sharing their approval for the union. Are there no objections?"

Everyone in the audience shook their heads and smiled. Cygnus and Nolus, who were sitting front center of their family groups then stood to speak.

"I approve." Cygnus said.

"As do I." Nolus added.

"Very good, then we may pro-"

Opulous was cut off by a sudden flash of light on Nolus's side of the family, and to the shock of most people present, Kaira appeared out of a teleport with an infuriated look on her face.

"I do not approve!"

"Kaira…" Nolus whispered, turning to her with a lethal expression. "We agreed!"

"Forget about our agreement! I know the marriage system you and Cygnus agreed on, so it's only fair that I get the chance to object! These two only are marrying now to hurt me more!"

The meeting hall was deathly silent for a few moments and Venius bit his tongue to keep himself silent, trying not to say anything to interrupt the recording of this twist of events.

"Liar!" Aturiel growled out at Kaira.

"Nolus, you said this wouldn't happen!" Cygnus said quietly.

"Are there any other family objections?" Opulous chimed in, trying to maintain order. The rest of the family groups remained silent.

"Then this wedding is not fully vetoed, but only delayed until both families can come to a settlement and end the dispute with Miss Ryelle." Opulous said with a slightly forlorn look.

"You bitch!" Jeselle snarled at her sister, and Kaira laughed.

"If you think that's bad, sis, then wait until you hear the topping on your own misery cake! Amara and Emael decided that they want to be married, and they want to do it tomorrow while we're in deliberations! And I'm fairly sure it's going to take at least two or three days for you to talk me down!"

What transpired next was similar to the day when Kaira had found out about Aturiel's betrayal. Jeselle yelled in absolute rage and lunged at Kaira, wrapping her hands around Kaira's neck and starting to squeeze. She channeled some psychic energy into her fingers and began to burn at Kaira's skin and fur with it.

"No! You won't ruin my historic wedding!" Jeselle bellowed.

At that point both family groups sprung to their feet and dove in the separate the fighting sisters, tearing Jeselle away and using their combined psychic power to disable her before she could use her own abilities against Kaira. Venius's hands shook a little as he held the camera, still trying to retain his composure and capture it all for historical posterity. As the group dragged Jeselle off, Kaira's malicious laughter filled the meeting hall. It followed them all as they filtered out of the meeting hall in bunches. It filled Aturiel's ears as he seethed silently with repressed rage. It made Nolus walk in a slight slouch due to overwhelming shame that he hadn't foreseen these events coming. It caused Cygnus to shake his head in silent anger and confusion, not sure if he should feel more upset over the entire thing. It seemed to continue on even after Venius turned off the camera and followed behind the rest of the group, and it seemed to even echo in the minds of everyone involved in the trial and sentencing of Jeselle to the same inhibitor collar that Kaira had worn for those five years before.


	24. Part II: The Book of K'telle : Chunk 10

**The Four Mirrors**  
A Sequel to Legacies  
By MMM/AJ

**A/N:** The next few chunks, including this one, will be split into two chapters each, and each chapter will be separated by five years of time advancement. I will be putting dates with each chapter from now on to help prevent chronological confusion. This will let me advance the societal development of K'telle at a brisk pace without losing out on any of the most important events!

**Chapter XXVI – Nolus 7**

_December 12, 2236_

"So how many people do you think are going to attend this little meeting Opulous? A fair few people are going to be at the party Jeselle is throwing to celebrate her release from that inhibitor collar, Amara and Emael are going to be at their five year anniversary and plenty more are caring for the children they volunteered to raise. That rules out practically everyone." Nolus griped.

"Well, I'm here." Lucas interjected with a shy smile, wanting to inject a little optimism into the conversation.

"Don't worry Nolus, even if nobody comes tonight, I can call for volunteers again tomorrow, or another day. I've been working on this network for five years now, another day or two won't kill me." Opulous replied.

The three of them were standing together in Opulous's basement laboratory near the main entrance, leaning on the only empty experiment bench side by side. Nolus shook his head, wondering if anyone was going to want to volunteer to be a living computer for Opulous at all, even if it was in short shifts. He certainly knew that he, Cygnus, and Venius were far too busy for it, and he was sure that Melicia, Satoria, and Tamista were as well. He looked over at the holographic clock at the next nearest bench, two minutes until the scheduled meeting time and nobody had shown up.

"Good point, I just find it ironic that you picked this time randomly Opulous, and it turns out to be the exact same time as all these events! You're such a space case sometimes!" Nolus said with a chuckle.

"I'm a space case all the time." Opulous said with a self-deprecating chuckle. "It's the main reason I have all my work spread out across this room. When my mind shifts randomly, I can just walk over to the appropriate bench and put down my thoughts or work. For example, I just cleared this table off for note taking recently for one of my new theoretical ideas about atomic physics and manipulation. Do you remember how Ares used the psychic powers of his Acolytes to compress the fuel for a fusion reactor later in his reign? Well, I had the idea that our powers might be able to manipulate atoms in other, more drastic ways! Specifically, if we were to manipulate subatomic particles in superheated plasma-"

Nolus chuckled as a small group of Mewtwos entered the lab, interrupting Opulous's ramblings. Among them were Talas Aurah, Elemir Skygem, Eloniel Nevica, and a couple others from Venius's line. They were all together as a group and were silent as they entered the lab, giving Opulous nervous yet expectant glances.

"Wow, I didn't expect so many people to come tonight! What a fortunate surprise!" Opulous said, quickly shifting gears from his ramble into an introduction. "I'm sure you're all familiar with my ongoing project to build a massive free psychic communications network, correct? What isn't so widely known is my difficulty running it through any kind of standard computer system. The short of it is that normal computers can't process sentient thought and emotion with any kind of proper efficiency, so the network needs a volunteer to take shifts letting the network use his or her brain as a processor core."

"So what necessarily would we need to do and what would it be like?" Lucas asked curiously.

"You don't actually really need to do anything per se." Opulous replied. "Each volunteer will choose the amount of time they spend hooked into the network, and when their shift will take place. I will hook him or her up, and he or she will simply let the thoughts, emotions, communications, and everything else flow freely through their mind. The volunteer will likely experience a fairly high amount of mental strain at first to handle all of these thoughts, but I have performed enough experiments in the network to prove that it will actually expand his or her mind considerably over the course of the first week."

A thoughtful look came over Lucas's face, as well as the faces of most of the gathered potential volunteers. One however, immediately stepped forward with a look of determination: Talas Aurah.

"I want to volunteer. Most of my life I've never really been that scholarly or intelligent when compared to most of my peers and most of my contributions to our society have been through unskilled labor like construction and metallurgy for Montalbo. This would give me a chance to improve myself considerably while providing a greater service to our species as a whole."

"Excellent Mr. Aurah! When can you begin?" Asked Opulous.

"As soon as you need me. Since I'm one of the few from my generation that hasn't settled down with a spouse or taken in a child, I have a lot of free time outside of work. If need be, I can even ask Cygnus to shorten my hours a bit so I can maximize my time here."

"Your enthusiasm is infectious, Mr. Aurah! Very well! I am planning on officially unveiling my network next week, pending my ability to finally think up a name for it! I can begin acclimating your mind to it as soon as tomorrow. Will there be any further volunteers?"

After a few moments of silence, Elemir and Eloniel nodded and stepped forward. The rest remained silent. "Very good! If you can all meet me tomorrow afternoon at 1PM, that would be excellent. For now, you may all go." Opulous said happily, and the small gathering turned and exited.

"You know Op, I think I might have cooked up a name for your network." Nolus interjected suddenly after being silent for so long.

"Oh? Spit it out! I'm eager to hear!"

"Well, I was talking history with Cygnus last week, and he was mentioning in human history about how some old extinct ancient civilizations called themselves 'Sodalities.' I can't exactly remember which one, but I think it was Greeks or Romans, or something like that. It meant an alliance of one or more states, I believe. Why don't we name your network after that?"

"Well, it's good, but I don't like the idea of directly ripping off a word like that. Even if it is sufficiently interesting sounding, I want at least a touch of originality in the name as well."

"Well, why not just modify the word in a way that retains the meaning but adds a little spice? Something like…'Sodalis'?" Lucas suggested.

"Perfect!" Opulous chimed, smiling again. "Sodalis it is! Lucas, you're a genius! You too Nolus!"

"Heh well, not as much as you, Opulous." Lucas said humbly.

* * *

_December 19, 2236_

Nolus fidgeted nervously with a little sprig from a Lum Berry bush as he walked through the bustling town toward the tower. Today was Opulous's big day: the public launch of the Sodalis that he had worked so hard to perfect. The people of K'telle were all going to be there, but Nolus and the other brothers naturally were gathering ahead of time. They were going to use the meeting hall where all the marriages had last taken place, since by now it was well furnished with decorations and cushions for seating.

Nolus looked up at the tower as he turned around a corner and walked through the little park that he had seeded in a donut shape around it. The new park was short but beautifully green and the tower itself hadn't grown much over the last five years, but that was to be expected since most of the effort of the K'tellians was being directed toward expanding the rest of the town and its industry. The K'tellian town was still nameless, they had yet to elect a mayor, and the economy was only starting to seriously change from frontier communism into a form of capitalism.

"It's about time you got here!" Venius said in his usual grumpy tone as Nolus emerged out of the park and started walking up the steps toward the meeting hall doors.

Venius was leaning against the open doorframe and Cygnus was standing in the doorway looking inside.

"He was probably spending a little time talking to the trees on his way through the park." Cygnus joked, and Venius snickered softly.

Nolus rolled his eyes and didn't verbally acknowledge their teasing. "So where's Op?"

"Where else? In his lab doing last second adjustments of course. He says Talas has been acclimating extremely well to spending long periods as the Sodalis's computer, but there are always more little tweaks." Cygnus replied.

"We'll he's got four minutes, he'd better tweak quickly!" Nolus replied.

It didn't take long before a crowd began to form, gathering around the marble staircase at the entrance to the tower's meeting hall, murmuring softly and staring up at Nolus and his brothers. Many of them were carrying children in their arms now, and a few of the babies were crying in the cold morning air in their bundles. Nolus glanced inside at a clock inside the meeting hall and frowned.

"He's leaving us hanging again!" Nolus said telepathically to Venius and Cygnus.

There was a flash of light signaling someone arriving via teleport and Nolus rolled his eyes, expecting Opulous to have appeared at that precise moment to ironically prove him wrong, but instead saw Emael Redclaw appear there with a very grave expression on his face.

"I hate to rain magma on this little parade, but there's really bad news from the refinery on the edge of town." Emael said quietly, gesturing to the three brothers present to come closer. "Montalbo Senior dropped dead 15 minutes ago. Heart attack. His son found him slumped over his desk in his office. By the time one of our people got in there to try and use recover on him, it was too late."

Nolus shook his head sadly and closed his eyes. "It's a shame, he was a good man, but he did live a pretty long life for a human."

"I'll admit, even if I hated him for awhile, he's done a lot for me and the rest of K'telle. He was one of the better humans I've known." Venius said begrudgingly.

"At least he got to see his dream of building that metallurgy business into a global enterprise. K'tellian steel and tritanium mined and refined by Montalbo is pretty popular around the world now. I take it his son is going to take over the business?" Cygnus asked.

"Probably, after he gets over the loss of his Dad. He's pretty torn up right now." Emael said with a nod. "The plant's shut down now; it's why I'm off of work. I had to deliver the news, and I figured I'd attend the unveiling of Op's network thingy."

"Thingy? It's called the Sodalis." Opulous said with a little huff, walking out of the meeting all and looking at Emael.

"Oh jeez Op, it's about time you got here. Look at how many people have been waiting for you!" Cygnus said, gesturing to the fairly large crowd of K'tellians now, which even included a few humans.

"I'm sorry, there was one last bug in the system that needed to be rooted out, and I barely managed to nip it now. There was a very subtle error in the neural sync buffers that could turn into a fatal cascade overflow if left unchecked for a week or more, and Talas has volunteered to stay in the system for about a week with breaks." Opulous replied in a neutral tone, glancing at the crowd without even being fazed.

"Heh, well, take us away then Op; don't make the people wait any longer!" Nolus said, gesturing toward the crowds. Seeing the gesture, the people quickly all fell quiet.

Opulous quickly stepped forward and broke into greetings and then started explaining his work. Nolus didn't really want to say it to Op's face, but even if Op was eloquent, his manner of speaking was slow, droning, and essentially boring. He took an exciting new concept and still made it easy to start feeling drowsy while explaining it. Nolus gave him a telekinetic elbow to the ribs when his rambling got too technical and somnolescent and he jumped a little and broke into the final portion of the ceremonies.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to bring the central computer system, nicknamed 'Machinae Prime', online now. As soon as it is online, feel free to connect your minds to Sodalis and test things out!" Opulous said and then tapped a few buttons on a little interface on the back of his arm.

For a moment the air was still and the silence thrummed against the eardrums of everyone in the crowd. A few tiny rows of blue lighting began to light up along the sides of the incomplete central tower. A pleasant energetic sensation flowed across Nolus's mind and he decided to join in to see how things went. He smiled as he felt his mind linking to the new network without draining any of his energy, and the telepathic thoughts and feelings of the crowd began filtering into his mind. More and more joined him, whispering words of amazement at how streamlined and easy it was to access the system. Emael even threw in the fact that it was still easy for him to access even though he was nearly tapped of all his psychic energy after work.

It was at that point that Emael's continued inexperience with hiding his own thoughts struck again. Much like how he had accidentally revealed his feelings for Amara over a mental link with her for the first time, now he accidentally leaked onto the Sodalis the fact that he was not only sexually active with Amara now, but was into so rather bizarre and kinky practices with her. Practically all the communications over the network ground to a halt as Emael quite suddenly became the center of attention. He blushed furiously, politely excused himself from the link, and dashed away. There were several moments of awkward universal silence over the link and then Op spoke over it.

"Heh, this is a good lesson for everyone, be careful to control just what you think about while connected to Sodalis lest it leak into the link! Let's all do Mr. Redclaw a favor and keep him out of the doghouse tonight by not spreading this knowledge around!"

Laughter broke out, both out loud and over the link, and the ice shattered as people resumed chattering happily. Nolus grinned and spoke to Op over it as well.

"I get the feeling that no matter how politely you ask, Op, your little invention is still inevitably going to be used for idle gossip."

"At least this way people won't be able to talk about someone behind their backs, since anyone can link up at any time!" Opulous replied.

"Just as long as participation always remains optional, I don't want any of us turning into big brother!"

**Chapter XXVII – Venius 9**

_July 9__th__, 2241_

"Equations equations equations. Damn it Cygnus, why the hell are you making me do all this!" Venius groaned aloud in his study to nobody in particular. "I'm 48 years old, I have grandchildren, and I'm stuck in here every damn night doing accounting work."

The huge pile of windows with forms in them on his desk's holo-screen was intimidating even to the most seasoned bureaucrat. Bills, taxes, income, exports and imports to K'telle, population growth projection charts, defense spending, construction projects, Sodalis usage tracking, food production, research projects, and so much more that it made Venius's head spin. He set down his stylus and lifted another steaming mug of coffee to his lips to take a drink. His console beeped to indicate an incoming video call and he quirked an eyebrow. Who could be calling him at 2AM? He hit the button to accept the call and a holographic image of Cygnus appeared over his desk with a forlorn expression.

"Venius, sorry to bother you. I'm afraid I've got some more paperwork to add to your pile. A K'tellian couple just got back from another one of those 'romantic atmosphere dives', emulating Emael and Amara's wild stunt from several years ago. They created a huge crater with their energy shield out in the grasslands that Nolus is not happy about, and the humans are pissed again about improper usage of international space."

"Ugh, and let me guess, you want me to calculate the damages and send letters of apology to the human governments?" Venius asked in a strained tone, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples.

"Yeah, if you're not too busy anyway." Cygnus said, wincing a little at Venius's tone of voice.

"Well sorry Cygnus, but I AM too busy! You know all the damn finance reports you dumped on me to fill out? I've been working on them for nine hours straight. I pretty much went from the end of teaching my last class of the day to working on this red tape and I'm still only about half done! So unless you'd like to crunch the rest of these numbers for me, then I think you can take a little time out of your busy blue collar construction schedule to talk to a few damned humans!" Venius snarled.

"Cripes Venius! Calm do-" Cygnus tried to say, but Venius slammed his fist on the 'end call' button, cutting him off.

"Selfish asshat thinks he's the only one who's bad at math." Venius muttered.

Venius looked back down at the mess of windows on his desk display and frowned. "You know what? Hell with it all."

He growled and then hit the 'power down' button and the machine prompted him to save his work. Not about to ruin nine hours of work in the name of spontaneity, he hit the accept button before standing up and simply walking out of his study. He passed through the living room of his new condo; it was almost completely dark except for the lights of the city outside the large far window wall. The few couches and chairs he had assembled were strewn about the room in no discernable pattern, a product of his usual clutter-prone personality, and framed in a case on the opposite wall was the old Time Medallion.

Venius sighed as he walked over to the Medallion where it was stored and laid its hand on the case. Ever since that night so long ago, he had been repressing the spirit-sight ability it had given him. The ability flashed back to him once in awhile, but he still managed to suppress it most of the time. Now he had snapped though, as K'telle had continued growing, his life had drifted in a direction that he found unbearable. Even with Ayla as his own little secretary and household helper, he was losing his soul in bureaucracy and becoming K'telle's foremost economist. This was not the future he wanted for himself, and in his rebellious epiphany, he unlocked the display case and picked up the Medallion in his bare hands.

"Alright you little trinket, hit me with what you have. Show me something." Venius said and then closed his eyes.

The reaction was just as instant as last time, a jolt of unnerving energy washed over Venius that made him feel like his world was turning off kilter by a few degrees. Over a handful of seconds several dozen visions ploughed through his mind, gnashed and garbled like they had been put through a blender full or rocks and broken forks. He stumbled forward, grabbing the display case and putting his weight on it, and the glass shattered, sending him down onto the floor in a flurry of profanity that would have made Darkest himself blush.

Venius sat up, picking shards of broken glass out of his arm and side, and slowly used his recover power to seal the wounds. The blood stains in the carpet would need a good shampooing to get out, and the Medallion had escaped his hands in the fall and rolled off somewhere.

"Damn it, lights on!" He called out, attempting to use the apartment's voice recognition software to get some light.

The lights failed to turn on though, and Venius stood and tried to walk toward the holo-panel on the wall that held the manual controls. He stepped on a glass shard on his very first step and it sliced deeply into his foot, eliciting another long, ear-searing string of cursing. He fell forward onto his knee and pulled the shard out, using his recover ability yet again to seal the wound.

"Damn it this has to be the worst night I've had in years. Lights on, you damn computer!" He yelled, not caring that there might be others in neighboring apartments that he could disturb.

The room still remained dark and Venius cursed a few more times. That was when his first new vision from the Medallion came to him, his vision fuzzed out a bit and he saw a glowing form appearing out of the hazy darkness of his living room. At first it was completely indistinct and unrecognizable, but as the features came back into view, Venius immediately recognized the form of his father!

"Dad?" Venius asked, his anger immediately evanescing into nothingness.

Tanis's transparent, ethereal form wavered even in the still air and he smiled. "I can't talk long, but I'm glad this unique ability of yours lets you see and hear me.

"Do you have any of those dire warnings or predictions from beyond the grave? Or the meaning of life?" Venius asked softly.

"Hah, no. Generally pure spirits only get to carry those kinds of messages back if they've been to Celestia or the Underworld. I've been sticking around with you guys here on Earth. I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of all four of you. Each of you has been doing something important for our race. Even you, Venius; you may not want to hear it now, but you are doing something vital for K'telle. You need to find passion in it."

"But Dad, my passion is defending our people! I want to make sure K'telle is safe from attacks like the one that took you from us." Venius replied sadly.

"Then pursue that passion, Venius! Use your financial influence to include a defense budget. Do weapons research with Opulous again. Train the youth to defend themselves with their powers and how to recognize psionic disruptor fields. Take the good with the bad."

Venius smiled and slowly stood up. "That's…a good idea Dad. Thank you."

"No problem. I'm running out of energy to stay visible for now, but remember, I'll be around."

"I'll remember. I love you, Dad." Venius said, walking over to hug the apparition, which wavered and faded away.

* * *

_July 10__th__, 2241_

"Hey, Cygnus!" Venius called out, flying up to the construction zone 30 stories up the central tower.

Cygnus was no longer playing the role of the core of his own little psychic directive network, but rather using the Sodalis. He was in the thick of things with his crew, stringing long cables of super-tensile tritanium-carbon nano-fiber through the tower to add stability. He glanced up at Venius as he landed in the construction zone.

"Hey, I'm sorry about last night." Cygnus said. "I didn't know you were under so much stress, I wouldn't have added to your pile if I had known."

"You're the one who created that pile." Venius said matter-of-factly. "But that's not why I'm here to talk to you. I spent the morning with Opulous and he and I agreed that it's time to start preparing K'telle against potential attacks like the one that nearly killed us all and took father from us. Here, take a look at the additions he and I made to the tower's blueprints."

Venius handed a digital pad to Cygnus, which he activated. A 3D diagram of the tower appeared with the changes highlighted in red. Every 20 floors there was a set of four huge charged particle cannons attached to the tower pointing in each of the four compass directions, mounted on swivel base turrets for maximum range of fire.

"Venius! These are full-sized anti-capital ship weapons! Do you know how difficult these are going to be to mount on the tower? Or how much power they'll consume? Hell, this many cannons will use more power than all the rest of the tower combined!" Cygnus said, disconnecting himself from Sodalis entirely to speak to Venius.

"So? The Blue River provides effectively infinite energy, just take more energy." Venius retorted, huffing a little and pointing at the energy receiving stations on the planned top of the tower.

"So, if we draw too much then Paladin Station's transmission stations will get overloaded and burn out. The humans running the station wouldn't like that, and the whole city will go without power!" Cygnus returned, crossing his arms.

"What's stopping us from sending a crew up to the station to upgrade the transmission station? I doubt the humans would complain about that!" Venius said, crossing his arms too and raising an eyebrow, a slight smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Alright, but this is still going to take easily a whole extra year to build! The tower has taken over ten years to build as it is; this is going to stretch it out further! Hell, running new power conduits into the existing portions of the tower will take months." Cygnus complained.

"So? Better safe than sorry, Cygnus. We've spent so many years building this town up and we're already starting to get threats from the humans because of what our cheap psychic labor has been doing to the global economy! The United States has been in a terrible economic slump recently and they're afraid that if more corporations like Montalbo come here for cheap and fast psychic labor then their job market is going to shrivel even further. All it would take is another group like the psi-slayers getting into their military again and-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, and then one sufficiently large bombing run could kill us all. I've heard your story plenty of times Venius. Fine, we'll do it. But if weaponizing the tower makes all the humans even more paranoid about us, then you'll be the one to deal with it." Cygnus said, uncrossing his arms and rubbing his temples with both hands.

"Only if you take some of this economic paperwork off of my hands! I know that you spend your nights after work grading papers and then relaxing! You have the time to help me!" Venius said, scowling. "Don't make me send my Luxray pack after you!"

Cygnus chuckled and raised his hand as a gesture of surrender. "Heh, alright Venius, you win. I'd much rather calculate annual earnings and expenditure than handle human politicians. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to run these blueprints by my workers and start writing up more requisition orders for weapon parts."

"Of course, I'll send the blueprints to one of your own pads." Venius said, taking his pad back from Cygnus and closing the 3D display. As soon as he grabbed the pad, the call buzzer sounded. "Ugh, duty calls."

Venius waved to Cygnus before taking flight and hovering down to the ground at the base of the tower. He hit the button on the touch screen to answer the call and Ayla's holographic head popped up. "Mr. Venius! You've got a message from the Prime Minister of Russia!"

"Oh jeez, just patch him through for me. I'm out, but I don't want to make him wait." He replied.

Ayla nodded and the screen switched over to the craggy and fairly angry looking face of the Russian leader. Venius sighed and listened as he started ranting angrily about how the Russian steel and Tritanium industries were a wreck thanks to Montalbo now and that he wanted to impose massive Tariffs on imported K'tellian metals. Venius sighed and listened to the angry tirade all the way home and was only greeted by the pile of unfinished paperwork on his desk's screen leftover from last night. But this time when he looked over it, a grin came over his face. He was going to sort out a fairly large chunk of it to send right back to Cygnus where it belonged, and he was going to enjoy every damn minute of it.

A/N: We're moving pretty fast with the societal development here, and while writer's block hit me fairly hard in a few spots on this chunk, I really enjoyed writing most of it. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and sorry for my usual delays!


	25. Part II: The Book of K'telle : Chunk 11

**The Four Mirrors  
**A Sequel to Legacies

By MMM/AJ

**A/N:** Well, two years later and finally here's a new chunk for you guys. *Sigh* I owe you all another apology. I can't really give too many specific details for the reasoning why this took so hellishly long, but I will tell you this much: my creative muse was basically put into a deep coma by overloading stress over shit going on at college. I've also moved out of my parents' place and started the _gloriously_ fun task of job hunting in this economy. However, the silver lining of this is that I'm out of uni, settled in at my new place, and it feels like my muse has finally gotten off of life support and the spark is returning. I can't tell you how effin' good it feels to finally write again! So here's a delicious 15-pager chunk for you all to enjoy, and an assurance that rumors of my death have been highly exaggerated. Remember that each chapter advances five years, but line breaks inside a chapter date do not!

**Chapter XVIII – Cygnus 9**

_**January 21, 2246**_

"So what do you think of the name for the city?" Amara asked cheerfully, poking at Cygnus's hand as he tried to work on the paperwork that covered the screen of his desk.

Cygnus grunted in frustration and set down his stylus. "It's fine, I like it, but you're going to have to run it by my other three brothers before we can make it official."

"I did silly! Didn't you hear me say I did?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. I'm kinda busy with this economic paperwork at the moment Amara. What was the name again?" He asked.

"Ugh, please don't ignore me uncle Cygnus! I told you, my idea was 'Teyn', it sounds strong and proud, but elegant too!" Amara replied, looking a little insulted now.

Cygnus shook his head and frowned a little. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't get any sleep last night because of all the work I had to do, and I can't live off of coffee like Venius can. Yeah, I like that name. I'll put my stamp of approval on it, especially if the others approve too."

"Yay! Now our city has a name! It's about time!" Amara said joyfully, jumping up from the chair and doing a playful little dance.

Cygnus chuckled and rubbed his temples, glad she was so joyful. "Yeah, none of us really has ever been too good at naming things. I'm glad we got a name now before Venius and I were slated to meet the Japanese Prime Minister to negotiate K'telle's independence. It'd be kinda embarrassing to ask for this land when we don't even have the proper name for our city."

"Wow, do you think the PM is really gonna let us have this land?" Amara asked, a look of excitement flowing across her face.

"I don't know. The governors of the different regions are still stuck in their old positions. I know Pullano and Taman will support us, they have been some of the few governors not to put Tariffs on K'tellian metals. Genning is still his old racist self. I'm not sure about the new Prime Minister though, he hasn't had much contact with us since he was elected. I do know that he tries to be neutral toward our people though, so if we can get the governors to support us in a majority, he probably will let us have the land. After all, we have only improved it since we were given rights to live on it."

"I see. Here's hoping the political climate is open enough for it! When are you going to meet with them?" Amara asked.

"Tomorrow." Cygnus replied, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Cripes unc, maybe you should go get some sleep then!" Amara replied insistently.

"I can't. I need to have these population growth reports ready for the meeting. A major part of our case for national recognition is how amazingly quickly K'telle's population has been exploding. In the 15 years since we've started, the population has grown even faster than an exponential curve thanks to the combination of Opulous's genetic diversity algorithm with natural breeding. I think we have some 15,000 of our people here now, along with a few hundred human migrant workers who are a part of Montalbo International. At our current rate of growth, that number could quintuple or more in the next fifteen years. Venius has already suggested branching out and founding new towns outside of Teyn to expand our influence once the Central Tower is finished."

"I see. Maybe I can help a little with the paperwork? I've been doing a lot of secretarial stuff for my dad when not spending time with my hubby. I'm getting pretty good at it." Amara offered.

"I would appreciate that a ton." Cygnus said with a smile, then stood from his desk and walked over to pat Amara on the shoulder. "Just make sure Emael doesn't get pissed at me for using up so much of your time!"

* * *

_**January 22, 2246**_

Cygnus didn't think he'd be back in the Johto Government Administration Complex in Goldenrod City again, but Governor Taman seemed to be eager to see them again and host their meeting. It was still as grey and soulless as before, he glanced around at the endless rows of cubicles that seemed to go on for miles. There was a new secretary this time, one who seemed to expect their arrival. He smiled and gestured at the four brothers to enter Taman's office.

The portly governor greeted them with a friendly smile, he didn't seem to have aged at all in the days since they had last seen him. He was definitely fatter though, his cushy government job seemed to pay well enough for him to continue overeating. His triple chin jiggled disgustingly as he smiled at them.

"Ahhh, the famous four brothers make another visit!" Taman said cheerfully.

"Heh, seems like our favorite governor's age has been showing in fat folds and not age wrinkles!" Venius joked, and Cygnus elbowed him hard right in the side.

Taman thankfully only laughed at the joke, not taking offense. "Not to be too much like the stereotypical jolly fat man, but that's pretty clever."

"Glad to hear you weren't upset Governor, Venius here has been growing less and less tactful as the years go by, it seems." Cygnus said, shooting Venius a dirty look.

"Nahh, it's alright. I enjoy laughing at myself, and Venius knows that. We talk over video-phone a lot and he and I are good friends. It certainly would be much harder to work in government if I wasn't capable of laughing at myself and not take life too seriously." Taman said.

"Venius still could have warned us about this before making a remark like that!" Nolus said, elbowing Venius too.

"Jeez you guys, you worry too much. I've been getting better about negotiating with humans ever since Cygnus fobbed the job off on me!" Venius said indignantly.

"Let's not allow ourselves to get too sidetracked shall we? The calls from the other governors should be arriving at any moment now." Opulous interjected.

"Of course, please sit down, I prepared chairs for everyone this time." Taman said, gesturing to the seats which were arranged in a circle around the huge holo-screen projector in the ceiling.

Unfortunately, Kurtis Genning was the first of the Governors to show up this time, and his craggy, aged, military countenance immediately scowled on sight of the four brothers. Cygnus could see Venius's fists clench and it made him worry that Venius might say something to sink their chances at getting the land.

"What do you Pokémon want this time? It's been God knows how many years since I've been harassed by you four and it's still too soon." Genning growled.

"Genning, please, a little measure of courtesy would be appreciated when we have a group meeting." Taman said calmly.

"Why should I? Whatever matter these Pokémon want to bring up would be better suited to the minister of Pokémon Affairs in Tokyo, not a Governor. Give me one good reason to listen."

"We are requesting a land grant from the Japanese Government as a basis of our own new, separate nation." Opulous said in a perfectly neutral tone.

Genning got an expression on his face that seemed to imply that someone had opened up his skull and punched him right on the brain; he was so dumbfounded with shock at the sheer level of chutzpah that the brothers were displaying that even he went silent for a moment. Finally another screen flickered on as the next Governor joined the conference, Maris Pullano of Orre. She greeted the brothers formally and asked them their business all while Genning was silent, and a tiny little smile formed at the corners of Venius's mouth. Even Cygnus felt a little spark of mirth ignite within his chest, though he also stamped it out too, for fear of offending Genning even more. Once Opulous had explained their request to Pullano, Genning finally snapped out of it.

"Pullano, Taman, don't tell me you both are actually serious in listening to this parade of absurdity!"

"Genning, they did something that none of the rest of us have the time or fortitude for, they turned the Dumplands into a habitable zone. Not only that, but they actually settled the area!" Pullano said. "Just the cleanup job alone has stopped toxic waste from seeping into Orre, which has increased our standard of living considerably."

"Horse shit! They only did it because they wanted the land for themselves! That's the only reason they asked us for the land to make into a Pokémon preserve in the first place!" Genning snarled.

Halfway through the weathered old General's tirade the rest of the screens flickered on as the last few Governors joined the call. Irwin Elwood of Hoenn frowned and interrupted Genning before his rant could continue. "Whoa whoa whoa Kurtis, what's got your crew cut ruffled this time?"

"These…animals want to annex Japanese land to make their own state!" Genning said, his voice trembling with suppressed thunder.

"Hmmmm, this isn't something that can simply be decided by the group of us together, we're going to have to call the Prime Minister." Stefanick interjected. "It would be wise of us to come to a consensus together as a group and then call him to see if he is available to make a final decision on this matter."

At that point Genning grinned in such a devious and cruel way that the Grinch would have cringed and averted his gaze. "Well then, here's the long and short of it: there is no consensus. You won't be coercing me into voting yes this time, no matter how many loopholes you dig up or bribes you offer."

"Genning, it behooves you to at least listen to what we have to say. Our people have successfully disposed of enough nuclear waste-" Opulous tried to say, but Genning cut him off.

"I don't care if you saved the whales, stopped every oil spill on the planet, and planted ten thousand square miles of forest, dorky boy, you're not getting one damn square millimeter of our land." Genning said firmly.

"I think we should at least have the right to speak to the Prime Minister and have him hear all sides of the debate." Cygnus proposed calmly.

"Agreed. I'm currently calling him now, whether you protest or not, Kurtis. This is a matter that needs to be addressed by all of us with him." Taman added, then typed a number into his console.

"I'll enjoy convincing him to reject the proposal right in front of the Pokémon then." Genning said smugly, crossing his arms.

It took a few minutes for Prime Minister Daichi to answer, and during that time Cygnus shifted uncomfortably in his chair. A disconcerting itch formed on the underside of his tail but he didn't dare scratch himself in front of the governors. When the prime minister appeared on the center screen he was wearing a very formal suit, tie, and slacks and his short black hair was slicked back with gel or grease, Cygnus couldn't tell which. He appeared to be fairly old too, having several creases and lines all over his face, but it contrasted with the fact that not one of the hairs on his head were grey, which made it seem like he dyed his hair. His appearance was thoroughly Japanese and his manner polite and formal. He gave Cygnus and his brothers a courteous smile and spoke.

"It is quite an honor to speak to the sons of the Liberator for the first time. I was one of the people who survived Ares' prison camps when I was young so I do afford you and your family a great deal of respect. What matters would you like to discuss with us?" He asked politely.

This time Opulous took the lead, explaining their land request in the most generous of terms possible. This time not even Genning dared act out, it seemed as if he was cowed into courtesy by the Prime Minister's presence. Once Opulous had finished speaking the Minister turned to the group and addressed them.

"An interesting request. On one hand, no Pokémon have ever been legally recognized as having full personhood, but on the other hand the Mewtwos have demonstrated time and again that they are not only fully sentient but extraordinarily intelligent." He began.

Genning made a tiny little scoff but otherwise remained silent. Cygnus gripped his chair, trying to swallow down the lump of nervousness in his throat.

"If I were to sign this land grant, it would set quite a precedent that Pokémon rights activists would celebrate and philosophers would debate for ages to come. It would put my name in the history books, surely." Daichi paused for a moment, as if allowing his words to sink into the minds of everyone listening. "However, there are political opponents who would find this most disturbing. Those who dislike the Mewtwo species, for example, would call me a coward for giving in to demands. Some nationalists would be upset simply at the idea of giving away Japanese land. This is not a decision I can make on my own, even with my governors."

"What do you plan to do then, Minister?" Taman asked politely.

"Table this discussion and refer our friends the Mewtwos to the United Nations for recognition as a sovereign state. If they can prove their case to the international community, I will cede the land and formally recognize their statehood. After all, how can my political opponents argue with me when I have international agreement backing my decision?" Daichi said with a smile that only a politician could give.

"Very good minister, thank you for your time." Opulous said, giving a small, equally courteous bow.

"Good luck with your address, sons of the Liberators." Daichi said, then closed the connection.

Genning's disconcerting grinchy grin immediately returned. "Good luck indeed. I will eat my own uniform if you can manage to convince that crowd!"

With cruel and spiteful laughter, Genning disconnected. Pullano sighed and said "Please forgive our fellow governor, brothers. He's not this rude to anyone else."

Venius looked like he was ready to make some rude, snappy retort judging by the way his knuckles turned white on the arms of the chair. He still managed to reply politely, "That's politics for you, Ms. Pullano. Will you still support our efforts?"

"Of course. Because of your work in the Dumplands…err, excuse me, K'telle now, the pollution seepage into my region has stopped entirely. We've made great progress cleaning out what has already crept in, and farmlands are springing back up. We've been steadily reversing the slow desertification of our land and increasing our population. We directly owe the growth of our prosperity to you, and as long as I remain governor I will make sure we don't forget it."

"See Venius, if you don't let Genning pollute your point of view, the rest of the humans here are good people!" Cygnus said, giving Venius a firm pat on the back.

"Quite. Since we won't be voting on this issue now though, I'm afraid I must bid you gentlemen adieu for now." Eliwood said, closing his connection. The others closed their connections too with a few polite goodbyes, and Taman spoke up once they were gone.

"That went about as well as expected. Do you boys need any help preparing for your UN address?"

"Anything would be appreciated, yes. We're not exactly looking forward to being scrutinized this publically." Venius said, crossing his arms.

"Some documentation about proper procedure, manners, and what info we should bring would be very helpful." Cygnus added.

"Alright, I'll have my desk jockeys send the files to you by this weekend. Be well!" Taman replied, standing and shaking their hands before they left.

**Chapter XIX – Opulous 8**

_**June 22, 2251**_

Opulous was exhausted, he had just spent a full 8 hour shift teaching science to another batch of fresh-faced K'tellian children, and he had very little time before he had to get ready for K'telle's fifth attempt at gaining national sovereignty with the UN. Their last four attempts had ended with dismal failure, only a few of Earth's nations would recognize K'telle as a sovereign nation, and most of the permanent security council laughed to their faces. Naturally Venius had had a hard time containing his outrage over this, but Opulous and the other brothers continued to remind him that they were lucky to even have the Pokémon Preserve status, since that kept Japan from legally evicting them. Still, it was a strain on all of them. They were allowed one bid for statehood every year, and tonight was the night that the four brothers tried again.

Opulous set down his messenger bag with his data pads in it on his private desk. He had a very nice flat near the top of the central tower, which was set to be complete in less than a week. He lived there alone now, although his brothers had stated interest in getting their own places in the tower. Opulous pulled out his data pad and sighed in defeat as he stared at the gigantic backlog of essays he had to grade for his K'tellian students. By now there were schools in K'telle that covered every grade level, but he himself was still in supremely high demand for teaching college courses. He was simply unable to keep up though, even with a huge network of TAs he could communicate with over Sodalis. He knew it was absolutely vital to foster more scientific minds in K'telle, but the strain of helping Cygnus build a fully functioning central government K'telle, teach five master's level courses, and still pursue his own research was beginning to break him. He glanced over at his digital clock, there was still two hours before they were due in New York for the UN General Assembly. He sighed and decided to head downstairs to the tower's base and meditate on Sodalis to ease his stress. After a five minute elevator ride, he arrived in the Sanctum, as it was now called. This was the same amphitheater-shaped meeting hall that Jeselle and Amara's weddings had taken place in, but it had been renamed recently in light of cultural developments.

These developments were clear to Opulous as he walked in, much as they would be to any psychic that walked in. Since the meeting hall was so close to the heart of the Sodalis, its signal was at its absolute strongest here. Hundreds of Mewtwos from all over the city of Teyn congregated here at all hours of the day to sit on cushions and meditate while connected to Sodalis, immersing their minds in the communal link. Even old cynical grumps like Venius recognized the almost spiritual beauty one felt while connected to Sodalis, and Opulous used the link nightly to de-stress. So much was going on in his life, even his own amazingly skilled mind was having a hard time keeping up! He was older now and starting to feel the wear and tear of age, but still didn't want to use anti-aging nanites because it would feel like an admission that time was starting to catch up to him. So he sat down on a free cushion and gazed down at the clear open display in the wall at the bottom-center of the Sanctum. There, beyond the window wall, was the heart of his crown jewel of invention, the newly finished Sodalis Volunteer Core.

As K'telle's population had continued to expand, they needed more than just Talas, Eloniel, and Elemir as volunteers to use their minds as the core of the Sodalis. Opulous expanded upon Machinae Prime in his basement lab under the tower, but they had soon launched a bit of a patriotic ad campaign asking for more volunteers to help with the system. It had worked, and with the system in such high demand, Opulous had built a large circular chamber behind the Sanctum where volunteers could comfortably sit in padded chairs, hook into the system, and work for hours at a time. The chamber had 20 receptacles for volunteers, as well as the cabling to hook their minds up and hydration tubes to provide them with water during their shifts. Talas was in there now as Opulous looked in, and Opulous could even talk to Talas as he settled down and connected to Sodalis.

"Hello Talas, how has your shift gone?" Opulous asked.

"Oh, hello Opulous! It is going very well. I love doing these volunteer shifts, as you've probably heard me rave before. I'm on my fifth 8 hour shift this week. I feel such an amazing...unity here. So close to all our people. It fills me with an immense sense of peace, as well as a patriotic pride for K'telle. I've got my mental fingers crossed for your meeting with the UN tonight!" Talas replied.

Op smiled weakly and said "Rumors have it that there have been some international shifts in feeling as the economy recovers and adjusts to cheap K'tellian labor. The new US president supposedly wants to support our bid for nationhood so we might stand a chance this time, but I'm trying not to build false hopes."

"Still, I have heard from Cygnus that your work on a newly designed central government for K'telle sounds very promising. Last year they rejected you on the basis that K'telle had no unified federal government of any kind to recognize, and Cygnus has said that the council system that you and he have built could have all the great checks and balances inspired by the US without a corruptible lobbying system like they have." Talas said.

Opulous smiled and said "Indeed. We will have three councils to rule. A High Council comprised of my brothers and I that have all the executive powers of the president split between us, a Mid Council with the powers of a judicial branch that will act as judges, and a low council with locally elected members like a legislative branch. Each council will have varying levels of power to vote on matters, and if one level suffers from a tie vote, the others can add their votes to break that tie. So if the high council of my brothers and I tie a vote 2-2, we can bring the matter to the mid and low councils for voting as well. There will be vetoing powers similar to those in the US as well. Though we are only going to elect low and mid council members for now. My brothers and I will maintain High Council positions for the foreseeable future until the K'tellian public asks us to step down or we retire. The best part will be the use of the Sodalis to make every single decision that is not a military classified decision public. This means the K'tellian government will be the most transparent and accountable governments on the planet. Everyone will be able to see the rationale of the councils when we make our decisions and be able to understand why we decide what we do, and conversely that will make corruption and abuse of power essentially impossible."

Op could feel huge wells of pride surging through the link from Talas, as well as everyone else who was listening to their conversation through Sodalis. Talas said "This is absolutely incredible, Op. I mean, we wouldn't be a full democracy in the technical sense but wow. The first corruption free government in Earth's history? That just goes to show how awesome a psychic society is. You should feel proud of yourself. I sure am proud of you all."

Opulous smiled widely, and a few tears were even welling in his eyes. He did feel proud, immensely so, of his brothers and his people. He then said "You know what, even if the UN turns us down for a fifth year in a row, the instatement of this government means I won't let it bother me. We have done so much here that I can see K'telle becoming a prosperous nation whether or not humans approve of us." He paused, then his smile faded. "I just wish I had more time to pursue scientific endeavors anymore. Setting up K'tellian government and being a High Councilor is eating up so much time, and being a professor is eating up the rest. I want to work on a brand new theoretical idea I have for my next big megaproject. It would put the Sodalis to shame."

Talas seemed incredulous about this. "Can you discuss something that important over a connection where anyone can listen?"

"Of course, it's not military tech, and I did just finish boasting about the transparency of K'tellian government. What I want to do is make true alchemy." Opulous replied.

"Alchemy? Huh? Isn't that the crazy fantasy pseudoscience that ancient humans tried, involving turning lead to gold?" Talas asked.

"Well yes, but the way I'm looking at it is a bit different. You know how the very basic building blocks for all matter are the subatomic particles protons, neutrons, and electrons, correct?" Op said.

"Yeah, every atom of every element is made from them. Pretty basic elementary school chemistry. How does that relate to alchemy though?" Talas asked.

"Well, think of it this way. Alchemists wanted to transform one element of matter, IE lead, into another element, gold. But what is the fundamental difference between a lead atom and a gold atom?" Opulous asked.

Talas' mind began to light up with excitement as he began to follow where Opulous was going with this. "Just the number of protons and electrons! So what you're saying is you want to figure out how to rearrange the number of subatomic particles in an existing atom to turn one element into another, right?"

"That's correct. Theoretically it's not that difficult. We already know how to partially disassemble atoms, current science has plasma cannons that can strip electrons off of atoms to create boiling ionized plasma. But to alter elements, we also need to transform the atom's nucleus where the protons and neutrons are stuck together. The problem is that it takes much much more energy to do this, since bonds at that level are much stronger. For example, typically elements are transformed like this inside the cores of stars, where it takes millions of degrees and fusion reactions to accomplish." Op explained.

"Ahhh, so while alchemy is possible, it's just pretty damn hard to do outside of a star. Makes sense." Talas replied.

Opulous nodded and said "Indeed, but remember humans used to think it was impossible to create a self-sustaining fusion reactor on Earth that would be energy efficient. Ares proved them wrong when he built the first ever fusion core in his fleet's flagship, and it used the telekinetic force of 20 of his minion cloned Mewtwos to kick start the reaction. As unsavory and evil as Ares was, he set an amazing scientific precedent that showed our levels of psychic power can be used for stunning scientific breakthrough. I believe it might be possible to replicate the core of a star, or potentially even hotter temperatures, in a laboratory setting with our psychic power, to actually transform elemental matter safely."

Talas seemed even more impressed now. "Wow, that's a lofty goal! The specifics are probably pretty complicated though."

"Not necessarily. I believe my work on the Sodalis actually was the very first opening step. The Triton I inductors I built that translate psychic power into electronic signal were a proof of concept to my initial attempts to create a totally artificial psionic machine. The next step, which I've been developing whenever I've had the free time, is the Triton II. It will be able to replicate telekinesis next, and allow us to actually produce kinetic psychic force from electricity in a way that perfectly mimics a Mewtwo's telekinesis."

"Holy shit! Wow, imagine the uses! Fusion cores could be operated without paying Mewtwos wages to run them!" Talas marveled.

"Indeed, though the real barrier has been designing them to use less energy than proposed magnetic containment field projectors so that such a core would be truly efficient without Mewtwos there to maintain the containment. However, I also believe these inductors could be used to theoretically contain superheated plasma inside a furnace that could melt down matter and reproduce alchemy." Opulous further explained.

"Wow...that's like...holy..." Talas was speechless for a moment. "You do realize that if such a system worked, you could literally turn toxic waste into construction materials."

"Theoretically yes. But remember that any elements larger than iron are difficult to produce since that is the highest element naturally made in stars. We would need to be able to reproduce temperatures equivalent to supernovae, or perhaps even the big bang itself, to produce a pure soup of protons, neutrons, and electrons, then cool them while using Triton IIs to control how the atoms form." Op said.

"Man Opulous you're blowing my damned mind here!" Talas marveled. "I can't imagine the energy and resource it would take to reproduce the big bang safely in a laboratory."

"That's why we have the Blue River, my friend. The K'tellian economy continues to grow nicely too, so hopefully it will be possible. All I need is time to work." Opulous replied.

"Man, maybe after this UN meeting you should consider training a huge batch of new science professors for the newly founded Teyn University so you'll have time to work on this." Talas suggested.

Opulous smiled and said "You know Talas, you're absolutely right. There's no shame in me hiring professors and then stopping teaching if I can continue to advance science for K'telle. Either way I'm contributing to the nation's progress."

"That's the spirit! Though you should be careful, it's easy to lose track of time while on Sodalis, you'd better get ready for the UN meeting now. It's nearly 7PM." Talas replied.

"Ack, Arceus damn it you're right! Thank you for your clarity of thought Talas, I feel ready to take them on now." Opulous said, then disconnected. He teleported back home to prepare, feeling much less stressed out now. Not only had Talas' discussion rejuvenated his excitement for life, but the link had drained all his stress away.

* * *

When the four brothers arrived at the UN General Assembly in New York that night, they still were a bit nervous. The city looked absolutely gorgeous, it had only continued to modernize during the decades after Ares' downfall, with towers that looked more and more sleek and technologically advanced. The newly renovated UN building was circular now with a courtyard in the center, and the courtyard had a huge assortment of international flags. Opulous and his brothers had to consent to a weapons check as usual as they entered, but this time the wands chirped angrily when the guards ran them over Opulous' arm and tail.

"Councilor, are you smuggling any hidden weapons inside your cybernetics?" One guard asked.

"Yes, but they are not active and I cannot remove them. They are integrated as a part of my body now." Opulous replied emotionlessly.

"I'm sorry, but we can't let you in. Recent policy changes added an updated rule that bans cybernetic weapons." The guard replied.

"But we have an appointment with the assembly in ten minutes!" Venius growled angrily.

"Sir, we're going to have to ask you to calm down or we can't let you in either." The guard replied.

"That's absurd! You can't make us miss this meeting, we've been waiting for it for a year! I'm going-" Venius began to rant, but Opulous put his hand on Venius to calm him down and interrupt him.

"Can you let us in if I completely deactivate and power down my cybernetics?" Op asked.

The guards glanced at each other, then the lead guard said "Yes, but if you reactivate them you may be shot by a sniper team from above."

Venius clenched his knuckles white again, barely suppressing his rage. But Opulous said "Be calm Venius. I can carry the inactive cybernetics with a little telekinetic lift. It's not an issue."

Opulous then shut down his tail and arm, the lights went dark and the tail collapsed onto the ground with a clang. Op caught it with telekinesis and carried it limply as they walked inside.

"You'll have to guide me around inside however, I've lost my depth perception with my eye inactive." Opulous said via private telepathy to Venius. Venius nodded and took his organic hand to lead him inside.

As they passed the guard they heard him speaking on a walkie talkie, "Be advised, one subject has inactive weaponized cybernetics. UN authorities authorize lethal force if subject activates any cybernetics."

All four brothers looked disappointed and exasperated at this as they walked inside, though Opulous did his best to look neutral and impartial. They passed yet another security checkpoint before entering the new assembly chamber, and apparently things had changed quite a bit since last year. The whole system appeared to have been reorganized with smaller temporary members being given more power and the five permanent nations playing less of a central role. They were all now using little digital interfaces in their desks so they could tap a touch screen button to vote, and each little screen illuminated their faces with a tinge of blue light. The brothers were asked to sit in an audience area until they were called upon to speak. It was even more informal than last year, they were given the floor and some time to speak, but there was no moderator or timers on how long they had.

Opulous cleared his throat and began. "Over the last year, the combination of breeding as well as growth tank birth has increased K'telle's Mewtwo population to a staggering 450,000. This exceeds last year's predicted projections by more than 70%. If insufficient population was a concern about the validity of our claims to statehood before, it certainly isn't now."

People in the audience seemed impressed by Opulous' sheer confidence when he spoke. When Cygnus chimed in next they seemed quite receptive. "We also have addressed another one of the UN's main concerns. Last year when we proposed our nationhood, we did not have any form of centralized government for K'telle. Now, just today in fact, we ratified our national constitution, solidifying a system of governance with elements taken from the USA's democracy and the UK's constitutional monarchy blended together. We have three branches of government similar to the US's, with a judicial, legislative, and executive. The High Council is the executive branch, with all the powers of a US president divided between my brothers and I. The judicial branch is the Mid Council, who will see the highest cases and decide on constitutionality. The Low council is the legislative branch, which will be elected similar to the US, and write and vote on laws. The difference is that the High Council are not elected, and in the event that my brothers and I tie a vote on a decision, the low and mid councils can cast tiebreaker votes. This system passed with an almost unanimous approval of the K'tellian people, who were invited to voice their thoughts on a public telepathic forum over the Sodalis."

Cygnus practically oozed pride over this as he spoke. The system was his baby, he had loved crafting it after all his years of studying civics and Opulous knew that a part of this also stemmed from the fact that Cygnus loved doing anything that didn't involve lots of number crunching!

Venius spoke next, "We also have specializations as High Councilors that we have agreed upon. I will take on the role of Chief Military Officer, Nolus will take on the role of Ecological and Agricultural leader, Opulous will be our Chief Science Director, and Cygnus will be our Chief Economic Director. We will meet daily for official meetings, and more often if important matters come up. All councils will also operate constantly on an open Sodalis connection to give the K'tellian people total access to the inner workings of government to ensure transparency and the eradication of corruption. The only exception shall be in classified potential military matters which necessitate secrecy."

This got quite a stir, and Opulous could almost sense some of the less reputable representatives feeling a little intimidated by the idea of competing with a corruption-free government. Nolus was the last to speak.

"Finally, to cement our claim to statehood, I would like to present the Assembly with this series of images taken of the Japanese region of Orre." He opened a large holo-screen from a small data pad, expanding large enough for all the humans to see. The images were of a gorgeous green grassland. "As you can see, the revitalized prairies of Orre are a stark contrast to the barren desert wasteland it once was before. This is due to multiple factors, and all the main ones come from K'tellian ecological efforts. The complete removal of all poisons from Ares' old Dumplands halted the contamination and pollution of Orrian soil, and last year we sent more of our own people into Orre, with Governor Pullano's permission, to remove any lingering toxic residues and clean up the old ruined and rusty buildings that dotted Orre's countryside. This has lead to one of the first global examples of large-scale de-desertification. I believe this shows that K'tellians are more than ready to take our place on the global stage and contribute to the welfare of Earth as a whole."

Nolus scrolled through several images of the green, revitalized Orre as he spoke, and one image was especially moving. It depicted a Mewtwo with pale white and silver fur helping a bunch of old, grizzled human farmers to water rows of newly sprouted seedlings on farmland, and the craggy, gray bearded old farmer man had a tear of joy in his eye from seeing crops growing there for the first time in what could have been a century. Nolus seemed just as proud of his presentation as the other brothers. The feelings of accomplishment were so infectious that Opulous even gave a broad smile. The assembly members murmured amongst each other, and the US Representative then spoke. "We will now vote on whether or not to recognize K'telle as a sovereign nation. Please wait while votes are tallied."

Opulous took note that every single representative was voting, which struck him as odd since it was such a large departure from UN tradition. The organization must have been undergoing more internal changes than he thought. Opulous chalked this up to the various nations of the world trying to unify in a stronger way in the face of increasing terrorism. It took a few more minutes for vote totals to come in, and things got very tense as the permanent council came in at a tie with France and the UK voting for, the US and China voting against, and Russia abstaining. The rest of the votes would break the tie! Venius gripped his fists tightly as nervousness gripped him, and Opulous distracted himself from the feelings of nervousness by holding up his tail and arm with telekinesis. Eventually, the results came in with the vote for recognition barely passing 52 to 48! When Venius saw this he enthusiastically leaped into the air and belted out a loud "YES!"

This outburst drew a few disdainful stares, so Venius quickly contained his exuberance and settled back into a professional demeanor. Cygnus then chimed in with a look of hope. "I hope this is not too presumptuous, but would it perhaps be possible to have K'telle officially inducted as a temporary UN member now that we have recognized statehood?"

The US representative then replied "Unfortunately no. We anticipated the passing of your proposal today, so the first measure we passed before your arrival was an official renaming of the UN. Instead of being known as the United Nations, we are now known as the United Human Nations, or UHN. This measure specifically precludes the membership of any non-human nations."

All four of the brothers were stunned into silence by this, and Venius looked absolutely galled by their audacity. He stammered a little bit, but Cygnus jumped in with a sudden and quick saving interjection to prevent Venius from humiliating them in front of every major nation on the planet. "I understand, representative. We appreciate the recognition we have been given so far, and by all means respect the rights of the UHN to self govern and do what it deems best for itself. Though we have many matters at home to attend to, including a big party to celebrate our nationhood! So please accept our deepest gratitude and excuse us."

Once the brothers were out of the assembly hall and exited the building, the first thing that Op did was reactivate his cybernetics. Venius was practically pouring steam out of his ears with rage over the UHN name change, so Opulous reached over to pat his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

"Don't worry brother, this is only really symbolic. We've known for a long time by now that several human governments have no interest in allowing us any influence over their jurisdictions. We should feel lucky that France, Britain, and the temporary members were kind enough to let us have our own jurisdictions."

Venius seemed to calm down a little bit from this assurance. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, I had a damned gut feeling the US was planning on tainting our victory with some sort of symbolic middle finger like this."

Cygnus nodded, then gave Venius a little smile. "Well that may be the case Venius, but think of how much fun you're going to have seeing the look on that asshat Genning's face when he finds out that the Prime Minister is going to officially cede that land to us now!"

Venius got a huge, wide, sadistic grinch-like grin on his face at the idea of that. "You know Cygnus, you are absolutely right. You just made up for that whole bullshit right there, thank you."


End file.
